Sundry II: Finding The Way Home
by ThePQ4
Summary: Sequal to Found and Lost you need to read it before this!. Logan finds Jo in the last place he expected, and coaxes her back home. Will Joanna's defiance against fighting for the XMen cause problems in their future?
1. Chapter 1

Finding The Way Home

Sundry II

by ThePQ4

Chapter One

_Logan's POV_

After Joanna left the moor that night, I tried my best to find her. I never expected she could get so far away in such a short amount of time. By the time we had reached the manor, even with the jet, we found that her room had been ransacked for the bare essential, all of her money that she kept in a jar in her night stand, gone. It wasn't Joanna that I was worried about though, it was Rogue. She seemed like a little lost puppy who'd lost it's master. For the first week or so, she moped around the Institute, she made silly mistakes in the Danger Room, and just seemed like a sad little girl. Remy tried his best to get her to laugh a few times, but even he gave up once in awhile, deciding he'd just have to be content to sit next to her on the porch swing, and silently pray that Joanna would come back.

I also never expected to find her where I did, and how I did. It was the voice that struck me first, sitting in my favorite bar trying to ignore my good friend Kevin Morgan, as he prattled on about a motorcycling accident he had been in. Then I smelled her. I turned slowly. It wasn't Joanna I saw...it was Rogue. Or someone who looked very much like Rogue. The face was exactly the same, the hair however was powder blue with streaks of white pulled through it. She had it pulled back into a ponytail.

"Kevin, whose that waitress?" I asked, nodding towards her, where she was laughing with a group of older gentlemen.

"Oh, that's Jinx. She's worked here for about...a year or so now." Kevin pondered for a second, "Funny you've never seen her before, you're up here all the time..."

"Yea...funny." I whispered, "You happen to know when her shift ends?"

Kevin looked up at the clock. "Oh...'bout another hour or so... Say, what's goin' on, eh?"

"Nothin' Kev... I think I'm gonna head back to my room. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, see ya later Logan." He tipped his head at me, before downing the rest of his beer.

Rather, however, then going to my motel room, I waited around the backdoor of the bar for Joanna's shift to end.

"Jinx, huh?" I asked, leaning in the shadows, all that was exposed to her was my boots as she exited the back door.

She took a second to recognize the voice, "Logan?" she asked. The voice was the same, now that she had dropped the fake accent.

"What the hell are you doing here?" We both asked at the same time.

"I'm working." She said, at the same time I said, "Looking for answers."

"No, seriously...what are you doing here?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"You've got a lot of nerve, Kid." I told her, "We all were worried you were dead or something."

"You should all know better then that." She told me, "I needed to get away from that madness."

"We miss you."

"Logan..." She sighed, and I stepped out into the light. I couldn't resist pulling her up into my arms, and she melted back into the Joanna I knew and loved.

"What are you doin'?" I whispered, brushing her now long black hair out of her eyes, "Why didn't you...wait for me at least?"

"Logan, I couldn't. You just would have tried to talk me out of leaving."

"I would have helped, Jo."

"Everyone's probably forgotten about me by now..." She shook her head.

"Never." I shook my head, "God I missed you." I pulled her into a tight hug, "I've spent almost the entire last year looking for you over the entire continent. The Professor could never pinpoint your location on Cerebro."

"I wouldn't let him." She pulled away, "Logan...please, don't give me away?"

"What are you talkin' about?"

"Don't...don't tell them where I am. Just...leave me here for awhile longer."

"Joanna, you've been fucking MIA for a year now! Your parents are worried sick, Rogue has turned into this little shell of a girl, everyone is completely lost with you there to boss us around."

"What about you, Logan?" She asked. Her eyes looked sad.

"I'm fucking lost, Jo. I don't know what the hell I did before you came along, and I sure as hell don't know what the fuck I'm doing now."

"Getting drunk by the look of it." She smiled, a small laugh emerging from her mouth.

"Please, Jo?" I begged, "Please, come with me?"

"I can't, Logan. I just, I can't go back to that chaos, the fighting... It's all so pointless."

"Will you stay here?" I asked.

"Where am I going to go, Logan?" She asked, "I've been here for over year now...I'm not going anywhere else. I'm settled."

"Promise me, you will not move." I told her.

"I promise, Logan. Can I go now? Jinx has to sleep before her next shift you know."

I pulled her back into my arms, and then kissed her. I could tell by the way she savored it for an extra moment that she had missed me too, and that made me feel better about leaving her.

"Hey Kurt, I need to talk to Professor Xavier." I sat on the edge of my lumpy mattress in my motel. It just figured that he would have to answer the phone.

"What's the matter, Logan? You sound worried?"

"Just get the Professor, Kurt, alright?" I growled, and then heard him scamper off to get the Professor to the phone.

"What's the matter, Logan?" Charles's voice was a relief to hear.

"I found her, Charles." I told him.

"Found who, Logan?"

"Joanna!" I said.

"What? Where?"

"Working in the bar up here in my old haunt. She steadfast about staying, but at least we know where she is, right?"

"Right, of course... Logan, I can't believe you... Where is she now, exactly?"

"I'm not sure where she's staying. I just know she's in town working at the Lions Den." I shrugged, "I didn't get a lot of time to talk to her. She's goin' by the name of Jinx, disguised as Rogue's twin or something."

"Interesting... Look, Logan, I want you to stay there, watch after her for a while. When the time is right, you can try and persuade her to come back to the institute."

"Charles, I don't want to do this to her... I love her, and I want her back as much as you do, but... She seems happy."

"One step at a time, Logan. One step at a time."

_Joanna's POV_

I could hardly believe it when Logan stepped out of the shadows after my shift at the bar was over the night. When I got back to my apartment above the bar, which the owner had gladly rented to me in exchange for working shifts at the bar, as well as his brother's grocery store across the street (for an actual paycheck, which went towards board), I just lay on my bed for a long time. It was a total shock to see Logan again. All of those feelings for him that I thought I had suppressed the moment that I had left that moor on Christmas, over a year before. It was now mid January, and my third Christmas since that fateful night in the car with my mother and Daniel had passed. The last one had been the saddest, all by myself in my apartment, the only gifts from my bosses and their wives, as well as some extra tips from the bar regulars.

And the way that Logan had kissed me. I had missed that the most. Not late night talks, not the sex, but the kissing. The way his mouth felt against mine, the way his arms would pull me up against his body, fitting together as if we were made for each other. I sighed.

I missed him. I missed him a lot. And I missed everyone else. Maybe it was time to go back.

As I kicked off my shoes, I picked up the phone, and dialed a number I never expected to use ever again. The line was busy. Maybe it was a sign. Or maybe it was just Kitty hogging the phone, like she usually did.

I put the phone back on it's cradle, and lay back in bed, my skin, hair and clothes melting away into my Jinx persona.

It was nearly two o'clock in the morning, my shift at the Grocery store across he street was scheduled to start in less then six hours, and I hadn't slept a wink. I couldn't exactly pinpoint why, but as I began to except the fact that my ex-boyfriend (who I never really formally broke up with, and still had many, many feelings for him) was in a town where I thought I could hide. I wanted to be with him again, which was probably very selfish of me. I couldn't help my feelings for Logan though. We had spent a wonderful year together, with many fabulous nights. He had been my first, and my only.

Finally, I got sick of laying in bed, sleepless. I pulled on a haphazard outfit, and my jacket, shoving my feet into a pair of boots. The bar would just be closing, and if I was lucky, Kevin would just be leaving (as he often was), so I could pull him aside and ask him if he knew where Logan was staying.

By my own extreme luck, Kevin was just stumbling from the door under the arm of his brother, John Morgan.

"Hey Jinx." John struggled to get his brother into his truck, "What's doin'?"

"Um, I was wondering if you knew where I could find your friend Logan." I crossed my arms over my chest in the cold, "He...er...left his wallet on the bar, and Joe asked me to get it back to him."

"Well, he's staying over at the motel, room six, but if you want I can give it to him when I see him tomorrow."

"No, no that's alright. I'd like to return it personally." I watched John clip his brother into his seatbelt, before slamming the door on him, which jolted him awake, "You go take care of your drunk brother."

"Yea...stupid idiot." He shook his head, "See you later, Jinx." He tipped his hat at me, and walked around to the other side of his truck.

The motel wasn't far from the bar, and besides all of the drunks from the bar making their way home, the streets were quiet. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen the Jeep around town before, but there it was, parked in front of the strip. The television was casting an eerie green and blue glow across the room, and through the gauze thin curtains, I could see Logan sitting up in bed, flipping through the channels.

I paused for a moment before knocking on the door, pulling my jacket more closely around myself, the bitter January cold biting through the thick fabric.

"Who is it?" I heard the tell-tale sound of his claws being unleashed.

"It's me...Joanna." I looked around before letting my real appearance melt into place.

"Oh jeez." He retracted his claws, and begin to unlock the door, whipping it open, "What the hell are you doin', darlin'?"

"I wanted to see you." I shrugged, "Can I come in?"

"Well of course." He stepped out of the way, behind the door, "What's the matter?"

I shrugged, "My apartment was lonely. I kept thinking about you. What's your excuse?" I asked, nodding towards the television.

Logan shrugged, "Same."

"Thinking about yourself?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"You've always been insufferable."

I sat down in the wobbly chair beside a small table, "Sorry."

"Don't be...it's a quality in you I've always loved, along with your indecisiveness." He sat on the edge of his bed, "So, what _really_ brings you here?"

I sighed, "I was just thinking, after I got to my room... maybe it's time... to go back, I mean. Before I left, Rogue told me that I was to easy to forgive people...and when I left, I finally understood what she meant. I did forgive everyone for everything that they did way to easily... My Mother, Lance Hang, Lance Alvers, Remy, Jubilee, Rogue...even you. When we were on that moor, after Magneto left... I saw what you were all really fighting for. Yourselves. Not for the good of human kind. You went with your old grudges. You and Sabertooth, Rogue and Jean against Mystique, Storm and Cyclops against Toad, Avalanche and Scarlet Witch, whatever that was about. None of you even noticed, on either side, when Magneto disappeared..." I shook my head.

"Old habits die hard, sweetheart." Logan shrugged, "Sabertooth and I have been fighting since before I remember...hell, I might have grown up with the guy, fighting him off. He always seems to know a little more then I do."

"I want to come back, but I don't want to fight anymore." I shook my head.

"Okay." Logan nodded.

"Do you think that the Professor can except that? I know he's not one for violence in the first place, but the fact that I don't want to do it at all..."

"No, I'm sure he'll think of something for you to do so that you're at least active. Training maybe."

"Thanks Logan. You always know how to make me feel better." I moved to sit on the end of the bed next to him, wrapping my arms around him. It took him a moment before he wrapped his arm around my waist, and kissed my forehead.

"So, you gonna stay with me tonight, or what?"

It was a week before I left with Logan to go back to the Institute. I'd talked to Professor Xavier a few times, and told him my concerns. My powers, save for my transformer power, were all a little rusty having laid pretty much dormant for a year. It was going to be different...very different.

It was early afternoon when Logan and I reached the school. It was the same as I remembered, and yet it was different. I had missed it so much, it seemed larger, and even more welcoming than it had the first time I had seen it. Logan saw my soft smile, and put a hand on my knee.

"You okay, kid?" He asked.

"Yea, I'm fine." I looked over at him as he punched in a code for the garage, "I just...I'm surprised everything's the same."

"We don't change much." Logan shrugged, "C'mon, I know there's a lot of people who want to see you." He pocketed the keys for the jeep, and reached into the back for his bag, while I grabbed mine, slinging it over my shoulder as I got out of the jeep. My blue Mazda caught my eye.

"Oh my god...my car." I walked over, touching the hood, "I never realized how much I would miss this car until I didn't have it."

"I kept it tuned up for you. I'd run it a couple times every month or so, and I think Rogue might have actually driven it when we were hard for cars."

"That's alright." I shrugged, "I'm surprised my parents didn't claim it, and pawn it off."

"No...your parents were actually understanding about the whole thing...worried, but understanding. Your Mom didn't even try to feel me up." Logan smirked.

"C'mon... Lets go inside." I put an arm around Logan's waist, and together we walked into the school.

Everyone was scattered around the school, noise bursting forth like never before.

"I think we've added quite a few students, haven't we?" I asked.

"You could say that." Logan nodded, "Everyone important, however, is in the rec room." He steered me through the familiar halls, new faces peering at me from different places, and then I found the familiar ones.

"Jo!" Rogue was just getting out of her chair as I entered the room. She looked good. Her hair had gotten a curl to it, her white streak parted on either side of her face. She was wearing a bright purple t-shirt, a pair of black jeans, and the fishnet hoodie I had gotten her for Christmas two years ago with a pair of sporting gloves. Everyone in the room turned. Warren, Kurt, Kitty, Bobby. Remy and Jubilee, however, were absent for an unexplained reason. The room exploded into action and noise, everyone moving from their seats to welcome me back. Rogue hugged me, murmuring nonsense, everyone else talking and waiting for their turn for a hug. Logan got pushed back by the rush.

_"Welcome back, Sundry_", I turned to see Professor Xavier leaning on the arm of his wheelchair.

"_Nice to be back, Professor._" I told him, trying to take in what everyone was saying to me in the meantime.

Rogue tore herself away from me long enough to let everyone else have a go at a hug, everyone talking at once to fill me in on the goings on.

"Now, now... One at time, before you wear the poor girl out." The Professor spoke aloud to everyone, "Let her relax... there will be plenty of time to catch up." He got the group to disperse, except for Rogue who attached herself to my hip. She really was like a lost puppy. I never realized before how much she had depended on me.

"Rogue, I need to talk to Logan and Joanna alone for a few moments, if you don't mind." The Professor spoke gently. She shrugged back, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"Alright, sorry." She moved back to her chair, and back to the television show the group had been watching before leaving.

"Perhaps we could go talk in my office, hm?" The Professor steered himself out of the room and down the hall, "I've got a few propositions to make."

It was soon decided that I would be traveling with Logan as he searched for clues to his past once the spring thaw had set in. While we waited, I would help out with training sessions, and even help Storm with the class she taught, teaching some of the new kids how to control their powers with different methods of concentration.

After our meeting, I met up with the old crew again in the rec room, sitting on the couch next to Rogue, suddenly also unwilling to part with her again. Besides Logan, I had missed Rogue the most. She had always been there for me, monitoring my test-runs of different powers, listening to my complaints, and just being a good friend.

"Hey, don't the rest of us get a turn?" Warren asked, leaning over the back of the couch where Rogue and I were leaned against each other, talking among ourselves, ignoring the television.

"Hi Warren." I smiled, and he leaned down and kissed my cheek. It was as if nothing had changed...which was both relieving and annoying, "How are you?"

"I'm fine." He nodded, "But I really think I should be asking you that. Where the hell have you been?"

"Canada." I told him.

"Canada? The Ultimate Run Away destination, huh?"

"I did not run away, Warren. I left." I informed him, "And besides, it wasn't like I was hiding... You just couldn't find me."

"You were hiding." He nodded.

"Don't fight when she's only been back for five minutes, Warren." Rogue spoke up.

"My, my...I thought you had gone mute."

"Shut up." Rogue glared at him.

"You want a plasma blast?" I asked Rogue, letting a green wisp circle around a fist.

"No... The Professor has already had to fix this Rec room once already since you've been gone."

"Really? I didn't notice." I looked around, and sure enough...the color was different, as well as the furniture being a slightly different shade.

"Yea, Lance got a little to close to the house, and...well, it wasn't pretty." She shrugged.

"Ah." I nodded, "Where is he anyway?"

Warren and Rogue looked at each other.

"Avalanche decided that being on the good side wasn't what he wanted anymore. He went back to the Brotherhood...except they didn't really want him anymore."

"He's dead?" I asked.

"No...he's just...missing." Warren shrugged.

"He's dead." I told him.

"We don't know what for sure." Rogue shook her head, "I mean, he could be anywhere..."

"I know for sure. He's dead." I turned to the television, "How about Hang? What's he doing?"

"He's away at college, actually. California, living with his brother. He did tell his parents, you know." Warren shrugged.

"Oh god... I missed everything. I can't believe I ditched my senior year of high school." I covered my face with my hands, "I was such an idiot."

"No, you weren't." Rogue put a hand on my shoulder, "You needed time off, and you took it."

"I still didn't graduate." I sighed.

"You can always go for you GED." Rogue shrugged.

I groaned. Catching up was going to be hard.

I lay on my old bed in the room I now, once again, shared with Rogue.

"So, what have you been doing?" Rogue asked. It was late, and it was the only question she hadn't asked yet, which was ironic since it was probably the one itching her mind the most.

"I've been in Canada... working in a bar for my room, and in a grocery store for my board." I shrugged, "Oh, and I'm sorry... I kind of borrowed your look for awhile." I winced.

"What do you mean?"

I melted into Jinx and shrugged, "It seemed like a good idea when I did it...and when I started to think that it wasn't, I already had a job, and my apartment... I couldn't just change..."

"It's alright...it's like I have a twin I never knew about." Rogue smiled.

"I'm glad you don't mind." I smiled back, "God, I really missed this place... I just... I just couldn't bring myself to come back though, until Logan found me."

"How did that happen anyway? He goes to that bar all of the time, and he never saw you before!"

"Well, I don't work there all of the time...mostly I picked up shifts when one of the other waitresses was sick, or something... But it is surprising we didn't run into each other sooner... I got to be really good friends with all of the regulars, including his friends Kevin and John." I shrugged, "I think it was sheer dumb luck."

"Well, I'm glad he found you...and I'm glad that you came back of your own free will." Rogue sat down on her bed, "We were all really worried about you."

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright now." Rogue shrugged and I melted back into my own self. I sighed, and stretched out on the bed, closing my eyes.

"So...what are you and Logan now? I mean...are you still, like...together, or..."

"I don't know, Rogue." I sighed, "We both...we both still have those feelings for one another, but... It's to soon to tell."

"Well, have you slept with him since he found you?" Rogue asked.

"Rogue!" I turned to look at her.

"Well? I'm just asking." She shrugged, "And you guys never formally broke up anyway..."

"When one is gone for a year, the relationship is pretty much over, Rogue..." I turned to look at her, "but yes...Logan and I... the night he found me." I turned back to the ceiling.

"Had you...been with anyone else?"

"Rogue, what is with all of these questions?" I sat up on my elbow.

"I'm just trying to help!" She said, putting her hands up in defense.

"No, Rogue. I would never do that... I love Logan." I told her, laying back down, and then turned to face her, "What about him? Do you know if he? ...You know."

"Logan, sleep with another woman? I don't think so." Rogue shook her head, "He'd of course had a lot of women come on to him, but...he loves you too." She shrugged, "Why don't you go talk to him?" She raised her eyebrow.

"This is why you missed me, isn't it?" I smiled, rolling onto my side, hugging my pillow, "You miss the tales of my nights in Logan's room, don't you?"

"I will admit that they made my life more interesting...but they aren't the only reason." she smiled at me, "Seriously, though... go talk to him... Square everything away so it's not so complicated later."

"Maybe I should..." I sighed, and then yawned, "But maybe tomorrow... I'm dead tired... I haven't had a decent nights sleep since I started working at the bar." I stretched back onto my bed , and fell almost promptly asleep.

The next morning, Rogue was already gone when I woke up, and Logan was knocking softly on the door before letting himself in.

"Hey." He knelt down next to her bed, "You awake?"

"I am now." I shrugged, "What's up?"

"Today is your first day as a teacher... You're with Storm in Class C on the second level. You may find that things have changed since you left..."

"Oh?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, and sitting up in bed, letting the covers fall down to my waist, and straightening out my t-shirt that I had fallen asleep in.

"Yes." He nodded, biting his lips for a moment and then rising to press a kiss to my lips, "Rogue said you wanted to talk to me this morning too."

I sighed, "Not right now... Later, when we can be pissed at each other and not have the opportunity to take it out on others."

"I take it this will be a bad talk?" Logan asked.

"It might take a turn..." I shrugged, and pressed another kiss to his lips, "C' mon, let me get dressed and...we can talk later?"

"Over dinner... we can go down to the docks to the Krab Shak." He raised an eyebrow.

"Sure." I nodded, "That would be great."

"I'll meet you out front at seven then?" He asked.

"Okay."

And with a chaste kiss, he was gone.

I joined Storm in her brightly lit class room. There were an array of students in the desks scattered around the classroom.

"Welcome back, Joanna... It's wonderful to see you again. I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you yesterday... The Professor needed me else where." Storm gave me a hug.

"That's alright... I was surrounded by enough people, I'm not sure I could have handled one more." I smiled.

Storm smiled back, and then turned to the class as the last stragglers filed in and then she spoke.

"Class, this is Joanna Darius, but you can all call her Sundry. She's going to be helping me out here for a few weeks, and I'm sure you will all find her to be a great help to all of your individual...talents. Today, we are going to continue to work on control..." Storm went to the chalk board, where she began to make notes on the board. Living as a student was very different from the education I had received at the Institute... very different in deed. And all of the different students, with all of the different powers. It was fascinating.

I found my first ever use for Bobby's ice-forming power when Tori Lang, also known as Flame, set the top of her desk on fire.

"I think you would be better to practice your particular technique outdoors, Tori." I put my hand over the flame, letting the moisture in the air to collect, making a sort of rain shower over her desk.

"Perhaps your right, Jo." Storm crossed her arms, "Would you like to work one-on-one outside?" She raised her eyebrow at Tori who nodded and stood up from her desk. We found a secluded spot outside. I had brought a box of the clay discs that Jean often used with Scott when doing target practice.

"This is what we're going to do..." I said, setting up piles of the discs, "I'm going to hold four at a time steady, and I want you to hit them. I don't care wither you break them, just try and hit them."

"You want me to make fireballs?"

"Yes...In a manner of speaking. Would you like a demonstration?" I asked, lifting four of the discs, moving them to a clear area.

"No...No, I think I can do it." She nodded, standing a good six feet away, and raising her hand which was soon engulfed in flame. She closed her fist and then opened it again. A small ball of fire emerged, sailing a few feet before dropping down onto the lawn in a fury of sparks. She sighed, extinguishing the flames around her fist, then stomping on the lit lawn.

I laughed, "Come here for a moment." I told her, "Put your hand up. This won't hurt." I pressed our palms together, the familiar wave of a new power coursing through my arm.

"What did you just do?" Tori asked.

"You ask to many questions, Tori." I shook my head, moving to where she had stood, still holding the discs in the air with one hand, and with the other, I let my hand engulf in the fire, "...Interesting." I pushed my hand forward, the fireball I had been hoping for sailing forward, and breaking the first disc. Another forceful push, and a fireball took care of the second, and another to the third, and then a final one to the fourth.

"How do you do that?" Tori watched me move the broken clay pieces from the ground into the now empty box.

"You're trying to force the energy from your arm, but you have to push it." I demonstrated again, then moved back behind the table, "C'mon now, you give it a go."

Tori sighed, and did as I had done, the fireball this time hitting the plate, but not breaking it the way I had. I let that one drop down to the ground, to be reused. Her second one cracked the plate, and her third broke it.

"Good job." I commended here, lifting four more, "Try it again. Practice makes perfect."

"But you've never practiced." She noted.

I shrugged, "I'm a special case, I guess."

Tori continued to practice until the bell rang signaling class was over. I packed the unbroken discs back into the box along with the broken pieces for Jean to take care of later, and replaced them in the tool shed before returning to Storm's classroom where she again introduced me to another set of students. My day was pretty much the same, working individually with a few students outdoors. I met up with Logan in the control booth of the danger room where he was working to create a new lesson.

"You should make those rifles fire more sporadically." I sat down in the chair next to his.

"Oh, hi." Logan moved away from the computer screen, "I didn't hear you come up."

"I'm very quiet." Especially when I levitate up stairs. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "I never realized how much work goes into teaching. I must have absorbed at least ten new powers today. My arms ache from all that use." I stretched.

"Mm...if it becomes a problem, I'll just have to spoonfeed you, hrm?" Logan asked, nuzzling his nose under my ear, kissing my neck. I laughed, and pushed him back.

"So, what are you working on?" I asked.

"Logan Lesson, number six-hundred and sixty-six. I figure it should be extra unforgiving." He smirked.

"Your evil side is coming out to play, huh?" I asked.

"Yea. You got any ideas?"

I grinned, and took control of the computer.

At dinner that night, Logan and I snagged a both in the far corner where we could talk privately with only the waitress to hear us, who ironically enough turned out to be Saundra, a girl I knew from when I first came to Bayville. She honestly looked like she had seen better days, but I didn't say anything but my order to her at first.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Logan asked, putting a hand on mine.

"I just want to know...what are we? I mean...are we together, where we ever not...where is this going?" I asked, shrugging, "We spent a year away from each other, Logan, which was my fault, but... I guess I didn't expect you to wait for me or anything... I know I didn't sleep with anyone else while we were apart... I guess I just wanted to know if you had. To start with, anyway."

"That's a lot on your mind." Logan said.

"I've had a lot of time to think." I gave him a small smirk.

"First of all, I never slept with anyone else...and I'm glad you didn't either." Logan leaned back his seat, "Secondly, I don't know what we are... Obviously, we still have feelings for one another...but...is that what you want? For us to...pick up where we left off?"

"I don't know, Logan." I shrugged, turning to look up at the moon from the window before turning back to him, "I love you Logan...but we can't get that year back."

"So forget about it." Logan shrugged, "We can patch together what we had when you left."

"I hate how that sounds." I laughed, shaking my head, "This is all my fault."

"It is not your fault." Logan coaxed, "Yea, you left, but...you came back."

I looked into his eyes. Underneath them I could just see that raging beast in him that I loved, as well as the quirky intellectual, and everything else that made Logan, Logan, "So, we're going to make this work?"

"I hope so." Logan nodded, "Otherwise I just spent a whole year celibate for no reason." I smiled, and kicked him under the table, which probably hurt my foot more then it hurt him.

"Hey, no kicking." He tapped me back with the toe of his boot softly.

"Sorry...reflex." I shrugged.

"What did I do without you around?" Logan asked, shaking his head, "I don't even remember... The last year was...dull."

I laughed, "You're just trying to make me feel better. I feel like such a loser."

"Why?" He asked, "You probably kept busier then I did... I moped for at least a month."

"Don't worry...I moped around my fair share too." I said, as Saundra placed our orders in front of us, and asked if she could get us anything else.

"No, thanks. We're good." Logan nodded her away, and Saundra took an extra moment to scrutinize me and then her face lit up, realizing who was sitting in front of her.

"Oh my god! Joanna?"

"Hi...Saundra." I sighed.

"I thought you had, like, died or something! You just...disappeared! Where the hell have you been?" She asked, sticking her order-pad into her apron along with her pencil, and crossing her arms, "Lance just about died when you were just...gone."

I pursed my lips. It would just figure that Saundra would have to bring up Lance.

"And none of your friends seemed that worried. At first they all tried to tell us that you were in New York with your parents on a vacation and that you'd be back by Valentine's Day, and that never happened, so then you were staying with some sick Aunt or something in Nebraska, and wouldn't be back until around Prom...well, that got chucked out the window, but they all _swore_ you'd be back for Graduation, and of course, you never did show... Where the hell were you?" She asked, accusingly.

"Did you miss me or something?" I asked, amused.

"Joanna, you missed the most exciting year of your life..." Saundra shrugged.

"Oh trust me, my year was pretty exciting." I shrugged.

"Well, come on...tell me about it." She nudged Logan down on the bench and sat across from me.

I looked at Logan, who shrugged deciding it was better for him to keep his mouth shut then to take out a girl whom I typically disliked.

"I've been in Canada." I shrugged, "Working."

"Doing what? Porn? C'mon, Jo. What kind of answer is that?"

"I was a barmaid and sales clerk." I shrugged.

"You gave up your senior year for that?" She asked, astonished.

"I didn't give up my senior year for anything, Saundra... Don't you have a job?"

"This piss job? Hell, I'm trying to give them a reason to fire me. I hate this dump. Unfortunately, my Dad is paying off the manager, so he won't...the fuckhead." She glared in the direction of the kitchen.

"Well...um...Logan and I are...trying to have a chat... Do you mind?" I asked.

Saundra suddenly noticed Logan, "Oh, my god. I'm so sorry... You guys probably haven't seen each other in, like, forever! Why didn't you just tell me to fuck off, it never bothered you before." She slapped her forehead, "Anyway, wait until I tell everyone else you're back in town, this is gonna be awesome. I'm gonna go make some phone calls right now." I sighed, watching her move towards the kitchen.

"...Is she on something?" Logan asked.

"Just herself." I shrugged.

"So, where were we before she showed up?" Logan asked.

"...I don't remember. I just remember her asking me if I was doing porn..." I shook my head, "Which is...weird."

Logan laughed, "I don't think I'll comment on that career choice -the evening is going so well."

"You can tell me later."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

After dinner with Logan, I sat in the rec room with a blank notebook. After Saundra had left, I realized what mess I had made of my education. I needed to do something about it. I started a list of things I would have to do. Money wasn't a problem, I had been saving up tips and my paychecks, what I could afford to save away anyway, from my year away, and had quite a little safety net built up. First on my list was to look into getting a GED, and how I would go about obtaining it. After that, I needed to take the ACT or the SAT. I knew that they offered it at Bayville High, but I wasn't sure about dates, or anything like that. I continued with my list, figuring in taking college classes either through the internet, or through mail-courses, and anything else I could think of.

I was just finishing my list when Logan slid onto the couch beside me.

"What are you still doing awake?" He asked. He seemed tired as he kissed my cheek.

"Just making a list." I shrugged, closing the notebook and sticking it between the arm of the chair, and the cushion, "What are you still doing awake? I would have thought you'd have gone to bed a long time ago."

"I got lonely...and you weren't in your room."

"...Ah." I nodded, a devilish sort of grin on my face, "Lonely as in you wanted someone to cuddle with, or lonely..." I moved my hand to slid dangerously up his thigh, and shifted in his seat.

"I've just missed having you next to me, that's all." He let me see his own little grin, and I leaned up to kiss him, leisurely. I felt his tongue getting reacquainted with my mouth, as if saying hello to each little crevice.

"Eh-hem."

We broke off our kiss and turned into the doorway. Tori was standing in the doorway, scuffing the toes of her sneakers against the wood flooring.

"...I, uh...kind of wanted to watch TV." She said, clasping her hands behind her back, putting her head down so that her red-streaked hair fell down in front of her face, embarrassed.

"Sorry, Tori." I picked up and notebook, and took Logan's hand, "C'mon Logan. Lets let the poor girl watch television." He got willingly up off of the couch, snaking an arm around my waist.

"Don't be up to late, Tori. You have class in the morning." He reminded her before obediently following me up the stairs as quietly as possible. I could feel Tori watching us as we ascended the staircase, her eyes following us until we were out of site.

"Where were we, now?" Logan asked, after we were safely tucked away in his bedroom, snuggled together under the thick comforter of his bed, "...Oh, right."

Tori and I worked together outside, this time working to create different sized flames, practicing to light things such as candles (of various sizes), firecrackers, and eventually moving on to a few stuffed scarecrows that had survived from Halloween.

"So...what's with you and Mr. Logan?" Tori finally asked after lighting a range of different candles, "Are you his girlfriend?"

I smiled, "I suppose you could say that, although that's probably not how he would go about introducing me to people."

"What do you mean?"

I shrugged, "We're beyond that...boyfriend/girlfriend stage... we're more attached then that."

"You're married? His fiancé ?"

"No...no, not quite that far yet. We're...partners, I suppose, is the best word."

"Partners..." Tori raised an eyebrow.

"I never said it was a _good _word..." I shrugged, "Come now, forget about Logan and me, and concentrate on your school work."

Tori grunted, and resumed. I looked over to a part of the yard that was still snow-covered. Storm had been kind enough to rope off a section of the lawn, and give us a more spring-time feel to a small corner. It was warm where I stood, but I dreaded to trudge back up to the Manor. Tori had nearly lit the final scarecrow ablaze when she started asking questions again.

"How long have you and Mr. Logan been together?" She asked.

I sighed, "Does this include the year I wasn't here?"

"...Sure." She shrugged.

"Just entering our third year." I told her, extinguishing the other two scarecrows in the snow outside of our blockade.

"That's a long time."

"Not that long." I shrugged.

"How old are you?"

I sighed, "Nineteen."

"How old is Mr. Logan?"

"Tori...what is this really about?"

"Nothing, Sundry. I was just curious is all." She shrugged.

"Hmm." I nodded, "Once you get that last scarecrow lit, we can head back inside."

With little trouble, she got the last scarecrow blazing, which I quickly extinguished.

"You head inside, and I'll clean up." I nodded her towards the manor. She hugged her jacket tighter and made a mad dash for the front doors. After tossing the old scarecrows, now scorched beyond use, into the trash, and packing all of the candles into a box, I made my own mad-dash back into the manor.

"Cold?" Logan asked, drinking from a mug of coffee, standing in the entry way.

"Just a little." I took the mug from him, taking a small sip, and then pushing it back into his hand, "What's on your menu today?"

Logan raised an eyebrow, "You want to know what I'm actually doing, or what I'd like to be doing?"

I smiled, "What are you actually doing?"

"I'm going to do a run of Logan-Joanna Lesson One with the whole crew later. You want to watch?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I thought it was Logan Lesson Bajillion..."

Logan laughed, "I changed it. You did most of it, anyway."

"I just helped a little."

"And for the record...it was Logan Lesson Six-hundred-and sixty-six."

"Oh right...the devilishous one."

"Devilishous isn't a word, darlin'."

"It is now." I leaned up and kissed him, "What time are you running it?"

"Before dinner. Around four or so."

"I'll be there." I kissed him again, and then went to gather up my second lot of out-door oriented students.

I sat at the controls in the Control booth, overlooking the Danger room. I felt sort of nostalgic looking over the cemented room, watching the holographs shift, and turn, the lesson taking shape. It reminded me of a video game. The crew was being lead on a mission to find some poor woman's cat...except, she wasn't really a poor old woman, she was a machine, who quickly turned on the group. Her destruction however opened up an arsenal from various places. The group then would be attacked by various plant and animal life that crept out of the woodwork. It all seemed very unreal, which was why it was fun. By the time they finally completed the lesson, with the foiled detonation of a small bomb, everyone was either pretty miffed, or had actually enjoyed the complicated aspects of the lesson.

"Good job, Jo." Warren patted me on the shoulder, wiping sweat off of his forehead, "That was kind of scary for a few minutes there."

I smiled, "Well...it was mostly Logan. I added the bomb, though."

"Don't be so modest." He shook his head, "It doesn't become you, really."

"You ready for dinner?" Logan asked, trying to ignore the fact that Warren was in the control booth. He had already changed, and was looking ravishing in a pair of tight jeans and a white wife beater.

"Yeah," I nodded, "lets go." I waved goodbye to Warren, and took Logan's hand, letting him lead me out of the control booth. I didn't noticed Warren slump against the control panel, looking kind of a heartbroken.

_Warren's POV_

I don't know what it was. I should have already come to term with the fact that Joanna wasn't interested in me. That didn't mean that I couldn't still think about her once in awhile though, right? After she had disappeared, I tried my hardest to find her, going to far as to hiring private detectives, who turned up nothing. She never had to buy a plane ticket, or use her passport, or anything like that. There wasn't any kind of trail to find. She simply...disappeared. She had to be missing for seven years before they would pronounce her dead, so after awhile, we all had to just hold our breath and hope.

And then she came back.

Yea, I was pissed that it was Logan who found her. I had kind of hoped that maybe I could get away from the institute long enough to do a little search of my own...but no. He found her in his favorite seedy little bar in the middle of no where (also known as Canada), and of course, he seduced her like he had before. Although I suppose having had already seduced her, he didn't have to do it another time.

I was relieved to see her alive when she came back to the Institute. The Professor had told us a day or two ahead of time that Logan had found her, and was bring her back, but also that she refused to have anything to do with active X-Men duty. She would teach, but she wouldn't fight. I didn't understand it. It was what Joanna was best at. She could defeat anyone she put her mind to defeating...and yet, she wanted none of it.

And now she was back with Logan, as if she had never been gone, kissing and hugging, and him coveting her as if she was some kind of international sex-symbol. I longed to know her the way he did, to explore every curve of that fabulous body. I wanted her, and that's what hurt me the most. She had liked me once, maybe even loved me, not that we had been together that long...and yet, what she truly wanted was this animal...Wolverine.

At dinner, I tried to ignore them. We had a small, private dining area, off of the cafeteria where they students now ate. We had become so large, that our facilities were constantly being updated. I could hear the students talking, and laughing...but of course, Joanna and Logan could hear something I couldn't.

Halfway through dinner they both paused at the same time, looking at each other, then rising from the table.

"I think there's trouble-a-brewin'." Logan said, his voice more of a growl, as he and Joanna walked towards the cafeteria.

A few of us followed closely behind, the Professor behind us all. The entire cafeteria was in an uproar. The circle of people lead us to the fight. It was two boys, both of them part of Sundry's 'out-door curriculum'... John Mathis was known as Sphinx and possessed a tail much like that of a lion. His face looked liked he wore a painted-on mask, but it was actually the pigment of his skin. Other mutations included that of cat-like reflexes, strength, and the ability to create a power-shield. He came from a country around Egypt, and was quite the scholar. Being in a fight wasn't typical of him. The other boy was named Mark Willis. His superior strength made him a bit of a bully. Joanna was trying to teach him to control his strength, to learn the right kinds of pressures for certain objects such as holding a wine-glass, rather then picking up a car.

_No POV_

"Stop!" Sundry pulled the two apart, "Mark! What are you doing?" It was obvious to everyone that he had picked the fight, but of course, Joanna had other ways of knowing that.

"He made fun of me." Mark wiped his mouth, looking for blood.

"That's no reason to trash the cafeteria." She crossed her arms, and turned to John who was still on the floor, "Are you alright?" She knelt down, lifting his face with one hand, "I don't think your nose is broken, but you should still have Dr. McCoy look at it."

"It was my fault, Miss Darius. He tripped over my tail. It kind of escalated."

"It's alright, John. Just go get fixed up." She took his hand, pulling him up off of the ground as she stood, "I'll take care of Mark." She turned to the rest of the students, "Well? What are you all staring at? Go back your meal." She waved them away, "Mark, go wait for me out in the hall."

"What are you going to do with him, Joanna?" The Professor asked as the crowd dispersed, and she crossed her arms, taking a deep breath.

"I don't know, Professor...what can I do?"

"Oh, I have some ideas.." He shrugged.

"I have to what!" Mark asked, slamming his hand against the wall, putting a slight dent into it.

"Mark, you need to learn to control this temper of yours. It's getting you no where. I think this punishment is pretty lenient. If it was really up to me, I would have you locked up in a solitary cell, but I'm pretty sure that's not legal." She crossed her arms.

"And what about Cat-boy out there, huh? What's he doin'?" Mark asked.

"Don't you worry about John. He's not getting away with what he's done either."

"You play favorites, Miss Darius." Mark crossed his arms angrily over his chunky stomach, "You like Cat-boy in there loads more then you like me."

"Favorites has nothing to do with it, Mark. What you did was wrong, and you know that. There is no need to lie to me. I have ways of knowing the truth."

"What? You got a lie-detector power or something in there too?" He tapped her forehead roughly. She grabbed his wrist, tightly, shoving his hand down.

"Don't." She warned him, "I don't want to have to hurt you, Mark...but if I have to, to get this idea through your head, I will."

Mark wrenched his wrists free just as Logan exited the cafeteria, the Professor not far behind.

"Is there a problem, bub?" He asked,

"No." Mark shook his head, "Miss Darius was just...laying down the law, is all. I guess I'll get started with my punishment now. It won't happen again." He nodded at the teachers and then pushed his way back into the noisy caf.

"That boy is one big hothead... I don't like you working with him." Logan growled, putting an arm around her waist tightly.

"It's fine, Logan. He's just like any of the others...he's just...stronger, and less mature then some."

He grumbled, and pressed a kiss to her cheek, "C'mon, lets go finish dinner... You coming Charles?"

Professor Xavier shook his head, "No, no I think I've had quite enough. I'm going to go do some thinking. I'll be in my office if anyone needs me."

"Have a pleasant evening then, Professor." Joanna touched his shoulder briefly before following Logan back into the kitchen.

The next afternoon, Joanna met with John in the library.

"I hear that Mark has cafateria duty for a month." He scuffed his toe against the carpeting, "And I guess I can't get away with the fight, either, huh?"

"Sorry, John." Joanna shrugged, handing him an inkpad and a stamp with the Institute's insignia, "You're going to be cataloging books for a very long time."

"That's alright." John shrugged, "I don't mind."

"Well, you're taking your punishment a lot better the Mark did." Joanna crossed her arms, "You want to tell me what the fight was really about?"

"It was an accident. He thought I had tripped on purpose. Is it my fault that my tail has a mind of it's own?" He asked, combing his fingers through the lion-like tuff on the end of his tail.

Joanna couldn't help but smile softly, "Jean will show you what you need to do. I need to get back to work. Stay out of trouble, John, okay?"

"I'll try, Miss Darius."

Joanna left him in the capable hands of Jean Grey, who was taking over duties as Librarian, and went back to teaching her lessons.

After dinner, Joanna joined Logan in the control booth of the Danger Room where he was making another new lesson, wanting to have some new, refreshing, exercises.

"Hey, kid." He lifted his head long enough for her to place a quick kiss on his lips, before turning back to the screen, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." She shrugged, "I'm just...tired. I wanted to say goodnight before I went to bed."

"You're going to bed? It's early."

"I know, but...It's been a very long week, and...it's just...I'm tired." She put an arm around his shoulders, kneeling beside his chair, "Don't be up to late tonight, hm?" She pressed another kiss to his cheek, "I'll see you in the morning."

Logan turned his chair slowly as she got up to leave, "Hey Jo?"

"Yea?" She asked, letting him take her hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles, a slight smile on her face.

"I love you." He tugged her down to kiss him, before releasing her.

"I love you too." She smiled, "Good night."

"Good night." He let his hand slip from her fingers as she went for the door.

That evening Joanna's dreams were riddled with dreams that weren't her own. Through the dim lab-tech lights, she could see shadowed faces, gurgling tanks of a thick metallic substance, and then, the body in the glowing green-barred tank. Of course, it took a moment for her to realize it was Logan. His body was covered in black marker indicating bone, and joints. She could hear muffled, indeciferable speech, and all of a sudden Logan's eyes opened, let out the most fierce growl she'd ever heard.

"Jo!" Rogue touched her shoulder, "Jo, wake up."

Joanna jerked upright, breathing heavily, looking around the room, "What happened?"

_Joanna's POV_

"I don't know, you were thrashing around...I tried to wake you up, but..." Rogue sat down on the edge of the bed, "What were you dreaming about?"

"I...I don't know." I shook my head, "What time is it?"

"Just after midnight." Rogue shrugged out of her jacket, "What's the matter, Jo? You looked really scared when you woke up."

"I need to go see if Logan is still awake. I'll be back a little later." I pulled on my robe, tying it tightly around my waist and left Rogue looking confused in the bedroom.

I tired his room first, to find he wasn't in bed yet. Then I tried the Rec room where Kurt and Kitty were watching a documentary.

"Hey, have you guys seen Logan?" I asked, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear, "I need to talk to him."

"Last I saw him, he was still working in the Danger Room, Joanna. What's the matter?" Kitty asked, turning in her seat.

"Nothing...I just...bad dream." I shook my head again.

"You want to talk about it?" Kurt asked, "You're more then welcome to join us."

"No, no..." I folded my robe more tightly around myself, "I really just needed to talk to Logan."

Kurt and Kitty both shrugged, turning back to the television.

I made my way downstairs to the danger room, not surprised to see Logan still hard at work in front of the computer screen,.

"Hey," He turned his chair, "What's the matter? I thought you were in bed a long time ago."

"I was..." I let him pull me down into his lap after he moved away from the consol, "but I had a really...really strange dream."

Logan let a small smirk cross his lips, "You had a bad dream?"

I bit my lip, "This is different, Logan. I think it was real."

He sat back his chair, "What makes you think that?"

"Can I show you?" I asked.

"...How?" He asked, raising any eyebrow.

"Just...be very still." I raised my fingers to his forehead, "Close your eyes." He complied, and I replayed the dream for him. I took my fingers away I reached the end, and he took a moment for his eyes to open.

"How did you do that?" He asked.

"Do what?"

"Take my dream."

"I don't know, Logan." I shook my head, "It just...showed up tonight. It...scared me."

Logan took a deep breath, kissing my forehead, "We'll talk to the Professor in the morning. You should go back to bed."

"You're not mad or anything, are you?"

"Why would I be mad?" Logan asked, a soft smile on his lips, "It's okay. We'll talk to the Professor, and...figure out how the hell this happened."

"I'm sorry Logan."

"For what?" He asked, stroking his thumb against my cheek.

"For...prying, I guess."

"You're supposed to help me figure where the hell I came from, Jo. You're not prying." He pressed a kiss to my lips, and patted my leg, "C' mon, go back to bed."

"You're not going to stay up much longer, are you?" I asked.

"No," He shook his head, "You can sleep in my room, if you want." He smiled.

Now I shook my head, "No, I think I freaked out Rogue."

"Good night, then." He let me get off of his lap, and lean down to kiss him again, "I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night." I whispered, and made my way back upstairs, almost running right in Tori.

"Whoa." I grabbed her shoulders, "What's going on? Why aren't you bed?"

"I had...a...problem..."

I raised an eyebrow.

"I sort of...lit...my curtains on fire." She spoke quickly, "but I got them put back out. It was an accident."

I sighed, and shook my head, "We need to put you in a flame-retardant room. Who put the fire out?"

"Bobby Drake. He was passing in the hall."

"Alright, good...Um...is it bad?"

"No...I opened my window to let it air out."

"Alright...let it air, and then go back to bed. Mr. Wagner and Kitty Pryde are in the rec room. You can sit with them." I ushered Tori into the room, before returning to my room, where Rogue was just turning out her lamp.

"Hey. What's going on?"

"I had a really weird dream about Logan's past." I hung my robe back up in the closet, and getting back into bed, "I just needed to talk to him about it."

"And?" Rogue asked.

"We have to talk to the Professor in the morning." I yawned, "I don't know how it happened...I just hope I don't have it again, although I guess I'll be less...surprised."

"Wait, so you actually saw a part of Logan's past?"

"Yea...but, it was so strange...you know when you have a dream, you see it from a perspective? Like you're either watching, or you're doing? Well...I didn't dream from Logan's perspective...it was...and outsider... So, it can't be Logan's memory I'm seeing...it has to be someone else's, right?"

"...But whose?" Rogue asked.

"I don't know, Rogue... I'll have to sort it out with Professor Xavier. I'm to tired to even think about it now. Good night, Rogue."

"Good night Jo." She flicked off her lamp, casting the room into darkness.

The next morning I talked to the Professor privately before Logan could join us. I wasn't sure why, but I was worried about where the dream had come from. I had deduced that it wasn't _Logan's_ memory, but it obviously had to be someone whom I had come into contact with in the last few months, at most.

"I would tell you to make a list of people you may have come into contact with Joanna, but obviously working in such close quarters with patrons, and of course all of the students... It would be nearly impossible."

We both turned at the soft knock on the door.

"Come in." The Professor called, and Logan stepped through the door, sitting quietly in the chair beside mine.

"So, have we decided anything?" He asked, sarcastically.

"No," Xavier said, shaking his head, "But it's clear that finding out about your past is a little more important then we first thought. Joanna couldn't have had this dream without some kind of reason behind it."

The meeting with Professor Xavier didn't explain much of anything, and Logan and I left a short while later, me still confused, and Logan...back to being Logan, before I met hm.

"What's the matter?" I asked, touching his shoulder lightly. He shrugged me off.

"Nothing. I've got work to do." He pressed a kiss on my forehead roughly, his arm around my waist for only a moment before he stalked down the hallway, brooding.

_Logan's POV_

I couldn't help but feel as though Joanna had some how stolen that dream. Yea, I had told her that I wasn't mad at her, and maybe I wasn't... I was just ticked off in general. After she had left me the night before in the Danger Room, I was more worried about what else in that dream she might see... Sure, she was going to help me figure where the hell it was that I came from, but, as I wasn't even sure of what I would find -the sordid little past I was sure to have, I all of a sudden wasn't sure that I wanted Joanna of all people to help me. What if she saw something I didn't want her to... the what-ifs were taking over.

"Logan?" Joanna followed me down the hall after we left Xavier's office.

"Jo, I'm kind of busy this morning." I told her, stopping. She looked worried, and kind of flustered.

"I just want to know what's going on with you." She crossed her arms. I sighed.

"It's...it's nothing. We can talk about it later." I pressed another kiss to her forehead, "Go on and get to your classes. With Spring thaw setting in, Tori is a little less likely to set anything on fire."

"Oh my god, Tori!" She smacked her forehead, "I totally forgot about her. She set her curtains on fire last night."

"What? Is she okay?" I asked, slightly worried.

"Yea, she's fine. Bobby put them out for her. I better go check on the damage though, and help her get it fixed."

"I'll see you at lunch." I gave her another quick kiss and then let her go on her way.

The morning seemed to pass quickly, and I forgot about my problem with Joanna and her dream. At lunch, she sat between Kurt and me, pressing a quick kiss on my cheek as she sat down.

"Hey." She smiled. She seemed to have forgotten about our problems too. She looked radiant -it must have been the sun she was getting.

"Hi." I kissed her softly on the temple before turning back to the table.

"So," Charles called us back from our own thoughts, "have you and Joanna given any thoughts about...travel?" Charles raised an eyebrow at Joanna and I. We looked at one another, and Joanna shrugged.

"I didn't figure we'd think about that until spring."

"It's never to early to plan, Logan." Charles unfolded his napkin, tucking it into his lap, and picking up his fork.

"I suppose, sometime in mid to late...April? Early May." Joanna shrugged looking to me with a questioning look.

"Sounds fine." I grunted. Joanna paused for a second, then rose, taking her plate into the kitchen. We heard the garbage dispose run a few seconds later, and the clatter of the plate and silverware against the sink. Everyone stared at me.

"What?" I asked, running my hand over my face, checking for food, "Something wrong?" I examined my shirt. Nothing.

"...I've never heard you talk to her like that." Rogue sat back in her chair, crossing her arms.

"Like what?" I asked.

"...It was...mean." Kitty shook her head.

"I said it was fine, what was mean about it?" I asked.

"You growled at her." Warren spoke up, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"I did _not_ growl at Joanna." There was a definite growl in my voice, however, when I spoke to him.

"I don't know, Logan...there was a certain...tone, that implied a sort of growl." Charles stared pointedly at me.

"I did _not _growl, there was _not_ a 'certain tone'... I said that leaving in May sounded fine." I stood up, shoving my chair backwards, and picking up my plate, following the path that Joanna had previously taken into the kitchen.

"Jo..." I found her standing on the observation deck off of the library. John, the Sphinx, had directed me from his book-stamping. "Joanna..." I knelt down beside her chair, taking her hands in mine. She turned to look at me, and I could see she had been crying.

"I didn't mean to see that dream, Logan... It wasn't my fault." She whispered.

I sighed. Obviously she'd had a premonition or something.

"I know." I sat up high enough to kiss her. "It's not anyone's fault. I'm sorry."

"Sit." She pulled a pulled a chair forward from the other side of the deck beside her own chair, and watched me sit down, resting her forehead against my shoulder.

We sat quietly for a few minutes, our fingers still entwined, then I had to speak and break that silence.

"Where should we go first?" I asked.

"Have you gotten any leads lately?" She asked.

I shrugged, "There's always something on the Weapon X program, but...I'm not interested in what happened to me. I want to know where I came from."

"Sit still." She whispered in my ear, and her fingers touched my forehead again. I let my eyes close, and I saw small flits of scenes flashing, After a few minutes, and the pictures weren't ending, I lifted my hand to take her fingers away.

"You're old." She smiled.

I grunted, softly, kissing her throat, "I already knew that, darlin'."

"I didn't even get half of it, Logan, and I was doing it as fast as I could."

"How far did you get?"

"Somewhere in the sixties..." She shrugged, "You looked good in bellbottoms."

I smiled. I didn't remember it at all, even though the memory obviously had to be there. "I wouldn't have stopped you, except... the bell rang. I have a Danger Room exercise I have to run. We'll talk again later, right?"

"Okay." She nodded, "I'll look into some of the stuff I saw...and I"ll just ignore the women." She smiled, standing from her chair, letting her hand slide across my shoulders, and I smiled.

"The ones I don't remember don't count." I told her.

She pressed a kiss to my cheek, and left quietly.

"You find anything?" I asked, kneeling behind Joanna's chair at Professor Xavier's desk. He had given her permission to look up information on his computer.

"I think I might have... Do you recognize this house?" She asked, picking up a print-out from the printer. The property looked very run down, and unkept. I started at it for a few minutes, studying it. Finally I shook my head.

"No, should I?"

"I think it's where you grew up. I'd have to look at more of your memory to be sure, but if my calculations are correct from what I gathered in a few conversations you had in the thirty or forties-."

"I thought you said you only got to the sixties..."

"I lied." she shrugged.

"So, how old am I?"

Joanna pursed her lips, "Well, keep in mind that I don't have an exact birth date, or even a year...just...an estimate... You obviously still had your memory when you were in New Orleans in the thirties, where you met this man," she held out another print out, "Jordan Hearch. I looked up on a geneology website."

"And?" I asked. I was still holding the picture of the house. None of this seemed familiar or anything. For all I knew, she could just be lying to me.

"In a conversation with him in a café, you told him that you were Canadian, and born in the late eighteen-eighties. Your name was James Howlett."

"James Howlett, huh?"

"None of this seems familiar at all?"

I closed my eyes, sitting on the edge of Charles's desk, and shook my head, "No."

"Look...maybe if we went to these places? If I could get something off of the buildings, or people? If I had more to tell you?" She asked. "I need other sides to your story then yours, Logan. What do you say?"

"Lets do it." I tugged her chair closer, pulling her up closer to kiss her. I let her drop back into the chair before we could get that far when a throat cleared behind us.

"I'm glad to see you are hard at work." The Professor looked amused.

"I really am finding a lot of information, Professor." Joanna smiled at him over the top of the computer.

"So...James, was it? Is any of this information...ringing any bells, so to speak?" The Professor asked.

"Logan, thank you, and no." I told him.

"I kind of like James..." Joanna told me, her hand on my foot under the desk

"I'll stick to Logan, until we're sure." I pressed a kiss to her forehead, "I better get back to work. There's something funny going on with the jet."

"Yes, I've been meaning to ask you to look at that." Charles nodded, coming around the desk, "If you wish to go work on that, I think I'll help Joanna look for some more clues that might help you out on your quest."

I left Joanna with the Professor and went down to the garage to work on the Jet.

I joined Joanna, still wiping the oil from the jet off of my hands, a few hours later, in the rec room.

"Mm...You smell like a mechanic." She wrinkled her nose at me.

I grunted, shoving the thin towel into my pocket, and putting my arm across her shoulders. "I did just get finished with the jet... and besides, I thought girls liked the smell of a working man."

She laughed, and leaned up to kiss me. The thumping sound of someone falling into a chair broke us apart.

"Somethin' the matter, darlin'?" I raised my eye at Tori.

"I don't want to set this chair on fire, so I think I'll just brood." She spat.

"You want to go outside, and let it loose?" Joanna offered.

"No...you're busy." Tori nodded at me.

I smiled, and pressed a kiss to Joanna's cheek, "I'm gonna go take a shower. Don't set any thing important on fire while I'm gone, okay?"

_No POV_

Joanna took Tori outdoors into a open area where snow still covered the ground.

"Just let it all go."

"I'm gonna ruin my clothes if I just let it go..." Tori shrugged out of her jacket, handing it to Joanna.

"I'll talk to the Professor about a containment suit, but seriously Tori...let it go."

"What if I burst into flame like the Human Torch?"

"Then you burst into flame like the Human Torch." Joanna shrugged, "I'll buy you a new outfit... just let it go. What happened."

"Mark was making fun of John again...so I stepped between them...and he started pushing me around. John tried to stop him, but really just made it worse." Fire was creeping up Tori's arm, encircling her like a second skin. The sleeve of her t-shirt caught fire, but she didn't notice. The more she talked, and the angrier she became, the more fire that encircled her body. Soon enough she was nothing but a fireball.

"Oh my god..." Tori jumped, the snow around her melting. She looked up at Joanna, "I...I don't know to extinguish it..."

"The same way you did when it was just your hand."

It took her awhile, but a few minutes of trying later, Tori was skin and bones again, her clothes burned to tatters.

"...Crap. I liked this t-shirt." She sighed.

Joanna laughed, "C'mon, here's your jacket... lets go get you cleaned up, and into bed. It's getting late. It felt good though, didn't it?" Joanna asked, putting her arm around Tori, "You need to be more sure of yourself."

"Easy for you to say. You don't have fat guys picking on you all day long, and Cat-boys sticking up for you. The only thing lower then me on the Teen-Totem pole is that brain in a jar."

Joanna smiled, "Go on to bed, Tori...and tomorrow we'll look into a containment uniform. I think you need one."

"Thank you Sundry." Tori turned, hugging Joanna tightly, "I never thought I would find someone that could really teach me how to use this...power."

"I'm glad to help you, Tori. Now, really...go get to bed."


	3. Chapter 3

1Chapter Three

Three weeks later, Logan and Joanna packed up the Mazda and were on their way to their first stop. After a day of driving in shifts, they were only half way to the dilapidated old house. The Real Estate broker that was selling the property on behalf of the owners had promised them a full tour of the property upon their arrival. Joanna yawned, sitting down on one of the beds in the room they had gotten while Logan peeled off his t-shirt, tossing it into his bag.

"You want to go out and get something to eat?"

"...Next time, can we stay at a hotel with room service?" Joanna asked.

Logan laughed. "I'll see what I can do."

"Let me sleep for like...and hour, and then we can go eat." Joanna snuggled up against the hotel pillow.

"You want me to just go out and get something, darlin'?" Logan asked.

"If you want." She smiled.

"What do you want?" He asked.

Joanna hummed. "What is there?"

"Just about anything you want, I'll find it."

"You know...I really want a hot ham and cheese." She groaned. "That sound so good right now..."

"We're in a huge city, and you want fast food?"

"How about take out chinese? Chow-mein, and that noodle stuff?"

"That's a little better." He rolled off of the bed, and picked up the telephone, "But hell, if you want take out, I'll just have it delivered."

Joanna smiled, pulling him closer to her bed by his belt loops. "This is the first time we've been all alone in a very long time."

"Just over two months, eh?" Logan asked.

"Hm." Joanna nodded.

"Not right now, Jo." He chided, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips before moving away to go to the telephone, "How about Japanese?"

"What's the difference?"

"More fish?"

"Why Japanese though?"

"Because I can actually speak Japanese... You've seen all of my memories, don't tell me you didn't pick up the Japanese."

Joanna shrugged, "There were a lot of girls in your Japanese memories, I just kind of discarded them."

Logan laughed, "There were two women, and you don't need to worry about them, I promise. As far as I know, they are both dead."

"That's a horrible thing to say."

"Well they are."

"You could at least sound...sorry." Joanna shrugged.

"I was...I am. I've moved on. Chinese then, huh?"

"Yea." She nodded, watching him punch in the numbers on the phone, and wait for an answer. While Logan was on the phone, Joanna dragged herself from the bed, picking up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder, making her way for the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower. Feel free to join me." She winked.

"You're not going to be doing anything embarrassing, like in that movie the other night, right?" Logan asked, moving the phone away from his mouth, then back. "Yeah, yeah, coke is fine."

"No, I promise." She smiled, closing the door firmly behind her.

Logan, however, did not take Joanna up on her offer and instead got comfortable on one of the beds with the remote while waiting for the delivery boy from the restaurant he had called.

Joanna exited the bathroom a few minutes later, rubbing her hair dry with a clean white towel, "Hey, I thought you were gonna join me?"

"I figured one of us should be fully clothed, and dry to meet the delivery boy." Logan smiled, pull her down onto the bed next to him, kissing her soundly, "After all, no need to give the poor kid a show, huh?"

Joanna smiled. "I love you, Logan."

Logan sighed through his nose, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I love you too." He watched her scoot down on the bed, and curl up against his side, closing her eyes.

"Wake me up when the food gets here, okay?" She yawned.

"I'll do that." Logan nodded, stroking her hair.

It wasn't much longer when the knock sounded on the door. Logan carefully edged his arm out from under her shoulders where she had fallen asleep, and went to open the door. The kid, ironically enough, was a short Asian fellow with anmie-like hair, and carrying two large bags in one hand, and a cup-carrier in the other.

"Logan, right?" The kid asked, his accent sounding very American.

"Yea. How much again?" Logan asked, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.

"That'll be twenty-one fifty, man." Logan counted out the Canadian bills, along with a large tip for being so fast, and shoved them into the kid's hand after he took the drinks, and then the bags, "Thanks." The kid counted the money as he shut the door. He set the bags and drinks down on the grubby looking table and touched Joanna's shoulder.

"Hey, Jo. The foods here."

Joanna murmured, "Hrm..hum."

"Jo...food. You remember that? We ordered Chinese?"

"Gimmie a sec, Logan." She yawned, rolling over onto her stomach, and stretching, "Seriously..."

Logan smiled slightly, turning away from her to go to the table where he started unpacking the food across the tiny table. By the time he had finished, Joanna had rolled off of the bed and sat begrudgingly in the rickety chair on one side.

"Hmm...it smells delicious..." She picked up one of the cartons and a pair of chopsticks.

Logan opted for a fork, and sat on the other side of her, his feet propped up on one of the table legs.

"So, when we get to the house tomorrow...what are you going to be doing exactly?"

"I'm hoping I can pick up on some different peoples memories, I guess." Joanna shrugged, "I hadn't really thought about it that much yet. I was just kind of...going with the flow."

Logan nodded, his foot propped up against the leg of the table, "Joanna...there isn't anything you're _not_ telling me, right? I mean...if I did something..."

"I'm telling you what I think might trigger memories for you, Logan... If you wanted, I could play your entire life for you, but...I'd be afraid of you going into shock from...It would be like a morbid death sort of thing."

"What about the flashes when you read them? Why wouldn't that put me into shock?" He asked.

"Because, it's going by so fast, you can't process it, Logan. If I played it for you, you'd be watching it frame for frame..."

Logan nodded, understanding, "Right...I get it."

Joanna picked up a small helping of the noodles with her chopsticks. It suddenly occurred to her that there was no possible way of eating Chinese food without looking like a dork. She sighed, and tipped her head back, dropping the portion of noodles into her mouth. Maybe she'd get lucky, and Logan would think it was sexy?

The two continued talking, moving away from the subject of Logan's past, moving on to the school and their students, while they ate. Once they were finished, they performed an easy clean up, ditching the cartons into the garbage. Then, Logan pulled Joanna down onto the bed.

"I don't remember if this has been mentioned, but...this is the first night we've been alone together since...oh...the last time we were in Canada."

Joanna smiled, "Uh huh..."

"So..."

"Logan, we do it at the Institute, too..."

"Yea, but at the Institute we always run into the problem of possibly getting interrupted." He shrugged, "But here..." He leaned down, kissing her softly, "we don't have that problem at all..."

"How many times have we _ever_ been interrupted at the Institute, Logan." Joanna laughed as he moved down, biting softly on her shoulder.

"Never, but it's always a possibility."

The old Howlett Estate looked quite dreary. No amount of cheerful banter from the Real Estate agent could make the house look any more regal. It had obviously lost it's splendor a very long time ago. The Agent explained that the house was over a 100 years old, and had been put up for sale by a long time owner who was tired of hanging on a taxable property he never used.

"Could you tell us anything about the...history, of the estate?" Joanna asked, as Logan walked around the foyer, looking around.

"Oh, well...as I understand it, Old Mr. Howlette was a bit of a...a codger. His son lived in this house until he died-."

"How did he die?" Logan asked.

"Oh, uh, well...we don't really like to talk about that, but since you asked, I guess I have to tell you... Mr. Howlett and his wife, along with another man believed to be his gardener, by the name of Logan, were...were, well...murdered.:

"Murdered? By who?" Joanna asked.

"Well, it's the damndest thing, don't you know? They never solved the case... Mr. Howlett was shot, probably by the Logan fellow... His wife, seemed to have killed herself, and... Logan...Logan seemed to have been run-through by some kind of an animal."

"Did they have any children?" Joanna asked.

"Well, that's the damndest thing too... They had a son, I think his name was James...disappeared." The Agent shrugged, "No trace of him anywhere after his parents died. There was a young girl who lived here as well, by the name of...oh, what was her name?"

"Rose." Logan spoke up.

"Hon?" Joanna turned, watching him examine the wood carvings of the foyer.

"What?" Logan turned.

"Rose..." Joanna raised her eyebrow.

"I guess it just...popped into my head."

"Well...anyway..." The Agent took Joanna by the arm, "Perhaps you'd like to see the rest of the house, hm? It was a very long time ago..."

"Oh, yes... Could we possibly see the upstairs?"

"Oh, well, of course. Will you be joining us, sir?"

"No, I think I'll check out the downstairs on my own, thanks, if you don't mind." Logan wasn't paying attention to the woman.

"Well, of course. You just look around, and when we're finished up, why don't we meet up outside?"

"That's fine." Logan growled.

"Hon, are you okay?" Joanna asked, before climbing the staircase to listen to the prattle being spouted off by the wayward Real Estate Agent.

"I'm fine...go...do what you do." Logan ushered her off.

Once upstairs, Joanna knew exactly which room the murders had occurred in. The scent of lingering blood still remained even after years of ownership.

"Could I see the...Master bedroom?" Joanna asked.

"Sure...why not?" The Agent opened the door, allowing Joanna a good look, "You can see the beautiful window-." Joanna tuned her out, touching the dusted remains of an old four-poster bed. She tried to look nonchalant, and interested in what the agent had to say, but she let her eyes close, and let the memories flood her head. A moment late, she moved away, seeming to listen intently, wishing for a moment that she had worn sandals so she could absorb any memory off of the floorboards. She listened to the remainder of the spiel, and then followed the Real Estate Agent out of the house, where Logan was leaning against the car.

"So, what do you think?" The Real Estate Agent asked.

"Well..." Joanna looked up at house, "I really don't think it's what we're looking for."

"Could we talk for awhile?" Logan asked, sliding a glance at the agent.

"Sure, of course. I'll just go...lock up." She smiled sweetly and then moved towards the door.

"Maybe we should look into buying the place, Jo."

"What? Logan, I know it's going cheap, but still...what would you do with a house?" Joanna asked, looking surprised.

"If we got it, maybe we could do further research here...It would be an interesting investment." Logan shrugged.

"I don't know Logan...I mean...yea, it would be helpful, but look at this place...it's in shambles.

"It's your decision, Logan." Joanna shrugged.

A few short hours later, a few thousand dollars poorer, and a deed packed safely away in the glove box, Joanna and Logan stood outside of the greatly rundown manor. Emphasis on greatly. Joanna was clearly unpleased with Logan's choice of purchasing the manor, but was the first to enter the house.

Joanna looked around the empty foyer of Logan's newly purchased "home". Logan was outside, unpacking the car. She had tried harder to get him to his right senses, but alas, it had been a worthless effort.

"Logan, what are you going to do with this place once the research is all done?" She asked as Logan stumbled through the door, his arms full of bags.

"I don't know...fix it up, maybe. Sell it again."

"Whose going to buy this place -with the exception of you, of course."

"How am I supposed to know, Jo?" He asked.

"Whatever Logan. It's your money." She shrugged, turning away. They had stopped speaking to one another for a few hours after that.

_Logan's POV_

I lay in the shoddy 4-poster bed that Joanna and I had made up for the night. The house creaked and groaned as it settled in for the night. Joanna was curled up against my side, her head against my shoulder, and the palm of her left hand pressed lightly against my chest.

She may have fallen asleep quickly, but I hadn't. I was still running the name Rose through my head.

Could I really have started to remember my past? Maybe buying the house had been a bad choice, but I felt oddly at ease here. Obviously something very bad had happened here -in the very room we slept in, but that didn't seem to matter.

Maybe I was wrong not to listen to Joanna, but I couldn't help it. Something here seemed to...call out to me.

The next morning, I had barely slept but Joanna got out of bed long before I did, and started about in her work.

Not wanting to disturb her, I made coffee in the ancient kitchen. The house may have been old, but it was still equipped with some of the finer things in modern life, like electricity and plumbing.

Joanna was in the library, thumbing through an old book.

"Good morning." I stood behind her, holding out a coffee mug to her. "French vanilla."

"Thanks Logan. You're sweet." She took the mug from my hands, and swallowed a sip before setting the mug on the edge of an empty shelf.

"Finding anything?" I asked, hopefully.

"Some." She shrugged. "Not a lot, though."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Maybe get the hot water boiler working?" She suggested. "I'd love a shower later."

"I'll get working on it." I pressed a kiss to her cheek, before walking dejectedly towards the basement.

A few hours later, the old boiler was working perfectly and pumping out lots of hot water, per Joanna's request.

"So...does this mean you're not mad at me anymore?" I asked, wrapping my arms around her waist, and kissing her neck. She was still perusing the library, though now in a different part of it. She was setting aside book she found interesting -wither for my case or just for her own enjoyment, I wasn't sure"I wasn't mad at you in the first place, Logan." She patted my arm. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Because I can probably grovel a bit more... Make dinner, do some dishes..."

"Logan, we have an entire house to go through and clean... You're groveling days are pretty much filled." She put down the book her had been looking through, and turned around in my arms. Her hands slid up my arms, and around my neck. She leaned upwards, while I stooped to meet her lips.

"It's been awhile since we did that...and it actually had feeling, I mean."

"I'm sorry Logan." Joanna sighed.

"For what? You didn't do anything."

"That's kind of the point. I haven't been...attentive to anything we've been doing lately." Joanna shook her head.

"Is that your way of telling me you were faking it the other night?"

Joanna smiled, and hit my shoulder roughly with her fist. "Don't be such a pervert."

"Sorry, it's in my nature."

Joanna smiled, and slid out of my arms. "I better finish going through these books. Why don't you run into town and get something for lunch, hm? I'm starving."

"Sure. I think I saw a sub place when we drove through. I'll be back in ten minutes."

"Alright. I'll be here. Be careful with my car, okay?"

"I'm always careful." I grinned, kissing her again, almost unwilling to part from her, before striding, with a little more pep in step, towards the door, car keys in hand.

It wasn't hard to find the sub shop, connected to the only gas station in town. I filled up the tank while I was there before getting the subs. Chicken for Joanna, and cold-cut for myself, -along with some sodas and chips.

Walking back to the car, I almost didn't notice the little old man sitting at the corner of the building in a rickety old chair.

"Say young feller... You the chap who dun bought the 'ol Howlette place?" His voice was creaky and ancient.

"Yea." I nodded. "What of it?"

The old man laughed. "Just trying to ter keep up with the news, is all. You know the history of that 'ol place, don'cha? Two men and a woman all killed in the same room, on the same night... Only the two youngest ones on the place were never seen again..." His voice took on an eerie sort of overglow.

I leaned down close to his ear, "Just between you and me, old man...one of 'em's standing right next to you."

The old man's eyes got wide, and I gave him a quirky shrug and a half smile.

"Thanks for the info though. My girlfriend should find it helpful -she's doing a history of the old place...college thesis."

"That'll be the young girl you was traveling with? I saw you drive in just yesterday...woulda thought she were your daughter, eh son?" He laughed again, seeming to have forgotten what I had just told him.

I shrugged again, "Some might find it odd, but we're comfortable."

"Where'd je meet, if yeh don't min' an 'ol man askin'?"

I thought for a moment, deciding to tell a little white lie. "At school. Through the headmaster."

"Well, if she's lookin' fer more on the house, she might try askin' at the library, down the street. They've got lots of useful stuff 'round there. Newspapers dating back to the founding of the town, books written on the town marvels...that sorta thing."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I better be getting back." I tipped my head at him, before sliding back behind the wheel of the Mazda.

"Took you long enough?" Joanna turned when I walked through the doorway of the library.

"Sorry. This old guy stopped me out side of the sub shop."

"For what?" She asked, taking her wrapped sandwich from me when I handed it to her.

"Just asking if I was the one who bought the house... He said you might want to look at some of the old newspapers they have at the library, if you want more information on the house. I told him it was for a thesis paper."

"Right. I'll have to remember that." Joanna sank down into one of the ancient chairs. "This smells fabulous."

I set her soda on the floor next to the side of her chair, along with a bag of chips, before sinking down into one of the other chairs. "I hope I got what you like...I wasn't sure, and I forgot to ask."

"It's perfect -exactly what I wanted." She smiled, unwrapping the first half, and taking a bite.

"You're not just saying that are you?"

"No, really...I've wanted a chicken sub all day. It's like you read my mind."

"...Funny, you're the one that does that..."

"Well, okay, so I kind of implanted it in your head after you left and I realized you didn't ask what I want, but you're still fabulous." She smiled.

I shook my head, unwrapping my own sandwich. "Oh, we should probably check in with the Professor. With all of the stuff going on, I kind of forgot about the institute."

Joanna lifted her hips, reaching her hand into her pocket, withdrawing the painfully tiny cell phone, "Wow, perfect reception..."

"Why don't you just do your whole little...mind thing."

"Because, I'm tired, and I'd like to have a normal conversation, like a normal person." Joanna picked up the bag of chips, holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder while she opened it. It was quiet for a moment before she spoke. "Hey, Rogue. It's Jo."

I could clearly make out what Rogue was saying, even though I was sitting a good six feet away. Joanna didn't seem phased though, so I assumed it was just my senses acting up.

"Jo! We were worried! We didn't hear anything from you yesterday." Rogue was saying.

"No, we're fine... I, uh..., well, we have some news."

"Oh?"

"Maybe you should get the others? And put them on speaker? I think everyone should probably hear this."

"Hold on a second." Rogue was quiet for a moment, and then Professor Xavier's voice came on, a little farther away then Rogue's had been.

"Go ahead, Joanna."

"Well...Logan bought a house."

"What?" Rogue's voice was surprised.

"We were looking at the old mansion yesterday, and...Logan bought it."

"Shit." I sighed. "Am I going to have to explain myself now?"

"Joanna, I think you had better put Logan on the phone." Charles's voice was suddenly loud and clear.

Joanna gave me a short shrug, and handed over the phone. I pressed it up against my ear, and grunted.

"Logan, what is the meaning of all of this? You were supposed to simply look at the house, maybe poke around a little...not buy it!"

"Look Charles..." I sighed. "First of all, it was my money. Second of all, it felt like the right thing to do, okay? Joanna is find a lot of things...I think, and the people around here seem to know a bit about what went on here... We haven't even checked out the library in town yet."

Charles sighed.

"Look, we're just going to do some research stuff here, and then we'll either move on, and come back here later, or we'll come home."

"What are you planning on doing with this property, Logan?"

This time I sighed. "Do I have to have a plan for everything, Charles?"

"You should!"

"Well I don't. I'm kind of living day by day." I pointed out. "I'm good at that."

"So I see." Charles's voice sounded part exasperated.

"Look, we'll call when we figure out what the hell it is we're doing, okay?"

"Alright." Charles gave in a little to nicely. I was almost looking forward to a verbal war about responsibility and the such.

"Alright. Fine. Here, talk to Joanna again." I thrust the phone at her, and she smiled slightly, taking it from me.

"Hello Professor."

The two spoke briefly, before the phone was passed on the other line to Rogue, who occupied the rest of Joanna's time while we ate.

"I'm sorry Rogue -I'm going to have to let you go. I've got a lot of stuff to look through yet, and try and get something off of."

"Alright, Jo...well, I guess...Hurry back, and find out all of Logan's little secrets, I guess. I miss you."

"I miss you too, Rogue. I'll see you soon, I promise." Joanna smiled weakly before hanging up. She turned to me. "Stop listening in on my phone conversations, Logan."

"It's not my fault." I shook my head, crumpling the wrapper from my sub, getting down onto my knees, crawling across the floor towards her on my knees. My hands slid up her knees, and I splayed my fingers across her thighs. "I never asked to have supersonic hearing."

"I wouldn't say it was supersonic, but better then average." She smiled, leaning down to kiss me, softly. "Hmm...you need to shave, Logan"

I brought her lips back to mine for a moment. "I thought you liked the scruffy look."

"Oh, I do...I just don't like it when I'm kissing you."


	4. Chapter 4

1Chapter Four

_Joanna's POV_

Logan and I decided on a trip to the local library almost a fortnight after arriving in the sleepy little town. While he pretended to peruse the books, I sat down with one of the librarians at the microfiche machine, with stacks of the little boxes of newspaper films. She explained how to use the machine, and instructed me on how to reload the canisters. After getting the hang of it, I thanked her and told her I would come and ask if I needed any further help.

"Mind if I ask what exactly you're looking for?" She asked. "I might be able to narrow down your search a little."

"Mostly stuff on the Howlett family. The house, anything of a historical significance to the family. I'm doing my thesis in architecture on the estate. It was once a beautiful house...unfortunately, it's pretty run down, but...my boyfriend has high hopes for restoration."

"Oh, so he's the one who bought the old house? News travels fast around these parts." She nodded. "You might try narrowing your search between 1880 and 1890. That's when Young Mr. Howlett, as he was known, lived in the house, with his wife and son. After that, Old Mr. Howlett lived there for a short periods until he died. I assume you know the general history of the house?"

"Oh, you could call me an expert in almost everything that happened in the house." I gave her a quirky smile. "I'm really only checking these incase I missed something."

"Well, I hope you find something useful for your...thesis."

"Thank you." I cut the conversation short, turning back to the yellowed screen, running her eyes over the prints, looking for words that popped out at me.

After a couple of hours, not only did my eyes hurt, but Logan was tired of boredly thumbing through copies of books he really had no intention of reading. -Of course, Logan was a scholar of sorts, but being it a small library of a very small town, they didn't have much that interested him.

"Find anything useful, Jo?" He knelt down next to my chair, his eyes scanning across the screen.

"A little bit...mostly stuff we already knew...my eyes hurt though. Maybe we should just call it a day, hm?"

"I can deal with that." He nodded. "You want to go out for dinner?"

I scrunched my nose. "I'm getting sick of resturant food."

"You want to go pick something up? And try to cook in that kitchen? I don't know if we can manage a whole meal...Coffee is troublesome enough."

"It doesn't have to be anything big, Logan...just something that doesn't come in a colorful wrapper, and sesame seed buns."

He laughed. "Alright, we'll find something."

After a dinner consisting of sandwiches (which at least didn't come in a delightful looking package, already assembled), and potato chips, Logan and I decided on turning in early. The house creaked, settling in with us, and I lay up against his hard body, my cheek against his shoulder, my palm against his bare chest. He had wrapped an arm around me, holding me close, and we had a sheet draped across our bodies in the hot summer night.

"Logan...do you really want to know about your past?" I asked. We were both wide awake, just enjoying the feel of the other against our bodies.

He was quiet for a moment. "Better to find out now, then to have it come back and bite me in the ass later, right?"

"...I suppose. But is any of this really opening it up for you? I mean are you remembering anything at all from your childhood?"

"Well...I remembered the name Rose, didn't I? I don't really know who she was, other then what you tell me, but...I know that she was special."

"I think we should try to find out where your Grandfather lived. Perhaps I could get something from that house...Something that tells me where you went."

"Why don't you just pick my brain for these answers?"

"Because...your memories could be...twisted...and...I don't like knowing certain things about you, Logan. I already know to much...about...other women, the things you've done. It's scary sometimes. I don't like knowing more about you then you do."

Logan tilted my face towards his, kissing me. "Better you then a stranger."

I smiled against his lips, and then sank back down against his side. "I suppose you're right about that. It's just weird, that's all. I love you. I don't want to find something that will...hurt what _we_ have."

"I love you too, Jo. I don't want anything to come between us...but whatever comes our way...we'll get through it. Hell or high water."

I snuggled closer to him, and I felt him press a kiss to the top of my head. His arm tightened around me, and I closed my eyes, ready for a blissful nights sleep.

The next morning, I contacted the realtor we had bought the manor from, asking her if she knew anything about other Howlette properties. She was helpful, telling me she thought there was an old, very run down place a few hours away that wasn't habitable. It was abandoned, and probably condemned, but that it was sort of out of the way, if Logan and I wanted to take a look. I was glad she didn't push the issue of why we were interested in the house, and thanked her, before getting in the car -without Logan to go check out the house.

I'm not sure what exactly it was that told me that Logan shouldn't make the trip with me, but I was sort of glad to be on my own for awhile. Don't get me wrong, I love Logan, and I love being with him, but even the best of people need breaks, even short ones, from their significant others.

Like the Realtor had said, Old Man Howelett's house was a wreak, barely standing, and a faded yellow condemned notice was posted near the door, deeming the house unsafe for habitation. The door had long ago fallen from it's hinges, and the inside looked dark and dank. Slants of light came only from between the slats of the boarded windows. I took a testing step inside. The floorboards creaked noisily under my feet, cracking under the weight. It didn't take me long to decided that hovering through the place was probably better then walking on the rotting floor.

I picked a quiet place in the middle of the house, also deciding it was probably better to try getting a past-premonition then to touch the house it's self. There was probably millions of disgusting little bacteria.

I was startled out of my premonition by the feel of someone touching my shoulder. My eyes jerked open, just after I had found out Rose's plan for she and Logan to go to the train station, and ride as far as they could, but not exactly where they would go. It had been a long shot, but at least I could try and find out where the old train station had been.

The man who had disturbed me wore a brown colored police uniform, with the name of the town embroidered across the front pocket, and the shoulder of both sleeves.

"Can I help you, officer?" I asked. He was young, and probably new to the job.

"I'm sorry miss, but, uh, you can't be in here. It's condemned."

"I was doing research." I noticed then that I was hovering a few inches off of the ground. "I'm done now."

"I guess I can let you off with a warning, this time..." He took off his hat nervously as I unfolded my legs, standing on thin air. He doesn't look scared, but more worried. "I've just gotta ask you to try and keep out of condemned houses from now on."

"Of course Officer. I can't promise that, but I'll certainly try." I know I sound sarcastic and flirty, but he is kind of cute. "I wouldn't stand in one place to long, by the way. This place is in shambles."

"I would say the same to you, but...you seem to have an interesting solution to that."

I smile, and hover past him, towards the door. "Thanks for the break, Officer. I better be going." I landed on the porch outside of the door with a soft thud, and I turned around. "I'm totally serious about that floor. It's about ready to cave, and I really don't feel like doing the super-hero thing today."

The officer made fast work of getting out of the house, the floorboards creaking wildly under his feet. He joined me out on the porch.

"So, uh, what's your name then?"He asked, following me over to where he had parked his squad-car next to my Mazda.

I paused for a moment, "Sundry. I work for Professor Charles Xavier...perhaps you've heard of him? Or the X-Men maybe?"

"You're part of the X-Men? I've never heard of Sundry."

"I was more active a year ago. Now I'm...a teacher mostly."

"That's really cool. Wow, a real super hero, right in my own little town. What are you doing here?"

I decided it was probably alright to talk to this police officer -I mean he was a man of the law of course.

"How about your name first?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Officer Byron O'Malley." He stuck out his hand. I took it, and shook it, stopping as we approached the car. I leaned against the hood of the Mazda.

"Nice to meet you. I'm doing some research on my boyfriend...for my boyfriend. His memories were...distorted. He has a kind of...amnesia. We're trying to figure out who is he, where he came from, what he did...that kind of a thing."

Officer Byron nodded, understandingly. "Well, if you need any kind of help from the department, look me up...but, uh, try and stay out of condemned buildings, alright? Or...at least get permission first, okay?"

"Yea, sure. I didn't mean anything by it." I shook my head. "I'll try and avoid it in the future."

"So...what exactly where you doing in there anyway?"

"Premonition mostly...I didn't think it was sanitary to try and get anything telekinetic off of it." I shivered. "Disgusting little dump..."

"Well, no one has lived in the place for years. It was on the market at one time, but after awhile, the realtors gave up trying to sell the place."

"Well the whole thing should just be torn down. It would do a lot for the atmosphere around here." I shrugged. "Anyway, I better be getting back. It was nice to meet you."

"You too."

"Logan? Are you around?" I yelled, pocketing the keys to the Mazda.

"In the kitchen, Jo." He called back.

"Hey." I smiled at him when I walked in. He was in the process of making another pot of afternoon coffee.

"Hey. Get anything useful?"

"Yea...some." I jumped up onto the counter beside him. "Logan...I've been thinking."

"That's a dangerous past time." He noted, turning away from the gurgling of the ancient coffee pot. "What's up?"

"Maybe we should...you know...go home."

"Go home?"

"Back to the institute. I mean, we can always come back, but...We've been here a while now...I think it's time we...recharged our batteries. And besides...I miss everyone."

"I know." Logan asked, moving to stand in front of him, his hands firmly on my hips. "I really like it here, Jo. It feels like home."

I pushed his hair back behind his ears. "Do you want to stay? I'll come back. Soon."

"No. No, I don't want to be here without you. You're what makes any place home."

I smiled.

He kissed me softly. "If you really want to go back to New York, we can leave in a couple of days. I want to get an idea of what needs to be done around this place -a list of all the things I'll need for the job. Maybe hire a construction crew to do some of the bigger stuff."

"Sounds like a plan, Logan." I nodded. "So...two days?"

"Two days." He confirmed. "By then I should have everything together. If I start right now."

"Right now?" I asked.

"What else did you have in mind?" Logan asked.

I raised an eyebrow and grinned at him maliciously.

A few days later, after Logan had hired a construction crew, with explicit directions of what he wanted done to the house while we were gone, we set back off towards Bayville. It felt good knowing that I was going to be able to see my friends again, and regroup all of the information I had picked up that was sitting in my head, to try and get it onto paper, or somewhere else, so it would stop cluttering up my mind so much. There were so many things, so many memories and thoughts running across my brain every moment...I needed time to just stop, and think.

Logan drove for what seemed forever, and we never seemed to get any closer to Bayville. The scenery was different from when we had arrived, things seemed to have changed, and I didn't remember anything I was seeing.

"Logan...how long have we been away?" I asked, after we had been driving for several hours, stopping for gas only once.

"About a month or so. Why?"

"Just asking." I shook my head. "It doesn't seem that long."

"You spent a lot of time in that library. You liked to get lost in the books. Don't you remember that? I had to drag you to bed almost every night for a week." He slid a glance at me for a moment. "Are you alright, Jo?"

"Yea, I'm fine. I'm just suddenly really, really tired."

"Well, why don't you go to sleep, and we'll stop at a motel in another couple of hours, alright?" He put his hand on my knee for a moment, and I nodded.

"Alright. Sounds good." I gave him a slight smile, and tilted the seat back a little bit, before pulling my jacket up around me, and closing my eyes.

I didn't even notice when Logan parked the car and carried me into the motel room. I woke up in the middle of the night, in a firm bed, with the covers drawn up over my shoulders with Logan's arms around my waist, his forehead balanced against my shoulder. His breathing was soft, and shallow, his grip across my middle tight. I moved my hand on top of his, and his grasp loosened slightly. I moved to slid from his arms, and he woke up, slowly.

"What's the matter, Jo?" He asked, his eyes barely open.

"Just going to the bathroom." I shook my head. "I'll be back in a second. Go back to sleep."

He grunted, turning over onto his back, his eyes closing again.

After a short stint in the bathroom, I crawled back into bed, curling close enough to Logan to touch him, but far enough away to put some distance between us. He curled his fingers between mine, and turned his head noisily on the pillow.

"Something wrong?"

"No." I shrugged.

"You sure?"

"Positive. How much longer until we're back in Bayville?"

"We should be back by tomorrow afternoon."

"I'll call in the morning then. Let them know we're on our way."

He made a small noise of agreement, his eyes closing again.

I pressed a short kiss to his cheek, and smiled, resting my head against his shoulder. "Good night, Logan."

"Night, Jo."

We were quiet for a few moments.

"Logan?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Jo...Now can we go to sleep?"

It was early the next evening when we finally pulled the Mazda into the parking garage. I stretched exuberantly from behind the wheel.

"Finally. Home at last." I leaned over, to kiss Logan on the cheek. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. Just thinking about all the work that has probably piled up since we've been gone." He shrugged. "Lets savor these last couple of minutes before they all rush the car, okay?"

I smiled, letting him pull me over into his lap. "It sounds pretty quiet. Maybe there won't be a welcome committee?"

"Oh, there is always a welcome committee." He shrugged, kissing me softly. "Makes me wish we were back on the road...we should have stopped off somewhere."

I laughed, kissing him back. "Come on. Lets go inside. I've missed everyone."

He shrugged. "I kind of missed my bed, rather then the people, but yea. I guess I missed them too." He gave me a smirk of a smile.

We both looked up to tapping on the glass, and Rogue waved from outside.

I smiled at her, opening the door. "Hey Rogue."

"I know you guys just got back...but the Professor wants to talk to you about your progress already." She leaned on the door, almost lazily. "And of course, Tori will be really glad that you're back -she turned into Miss Human Torch yesterday in front of everyone, and was kind of embarrassed about it -she's been hiding in her room, and no one can persuade her to come out."

"I'll go talk to her after our meeting with the Professor." I assured her. "Help me out." I held out my hands, and Rogue pulled me to my feet through the door. "Logan, can you get someone for the suitcases?"

"Sure. I'll meet you upstairs." He nodded at me, pulling the keys from the ignition and pocketing them, as Rogue and I turned to enter the school.

"Tori..." I knocked softly on her bedroom door before opening it. "Hey."

She turned to look at me forlornly. "Hi. I guess you heard about my catastrophe yesterday, huh?"

"Just what Rogue told me. Why don't _you_ tell me what happened, hm?" I asked, closing the door again behind me, and kneeling on the floor in front of her bed.

Tori sighed. "Mark and John were fighting again...I just wanted to help John out, you know? And...I guess my anger got the better of me...I just erupted. It was crazy. I just got into the bathroom when I extinguished, but not until after I scorched the carpeting in the hall...and I ruined my favorite jeans, and shoes."

"You just have to learn to try and keep your anger in check, in situations like that, Tori." I stood up, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. "How about we go shopping tomorrow, to replace your jeans and shoes? My treat, seriously."

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Yea...just don't let word get around -they might think I'm playing favorites." I smiled, patting her shoulder. "Come on now." I stood from her bed, and held out my hand. "Let's get out of this drab little dorm room, hm?"

"...I guess." Tori shrugged, taking my hand, and letting me pull her out of the room. "I suppose I am kind of hungry."

"I could go for some home-cooked meals...I've been living up sandwiches for way to long." I shook my head. "I'm sure we can find something."

_Logan's POV_

It felt good to sleep in my own bed. I felt like a hold that had been on me had been loosened, and I was able to relax and recoup from the weeks on the road. Joanna slept beside me, curled against my side. I felt at ease with her beside me, still in love with me, and neither of us disgruntled with the other. For the first time, in what felt like a lifetime, we were able to just relax in each other's arms.

Joanna yawned kittenishly in my ear, snuggling deeper under the covers. My arm slipped down around her hips, my cheek resting against the top of her head. She seemed so innocent when she was sleeping -weak and powerless, when quite the contrary was true.

I felt her beginning to wake up beside me, and she moved, her eyes cracking open.

"What's the matter?" She asked weakly.

"Nothing. Just not tired." I shifted onto my side, getting a better look of her.

She made a small noise of agreement, and yawned again. "What's the time?"

"Four thirty seven." I caught a glance of the clock over her shoulder.

She grumbled loudly. "Go back to bed."

I laughed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I'm going to get up, but you're welcome to stay. There are some things that need attention around here."

She made the small noise of agreement again, and rolled over. I smiled, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"You could always wake up, and we could do something...recreational together?" I suggested, lucidly, in her ear. I saw the twinge of smile cross her lips.

"Not this early, bub." She dampened the idea, and tugged the covers away from me.

"Blanket hog." I teased, kissing her lips this time.

"Oink oink."

I left her in the bed, going for the bathroom. The hot water from the familiar showerhead felt good against my skin -everything at the institute felt new, and good. Much different from the dust and dank of the Howlette Manor. -The manor had felt like home, but the manor really was. I kept the shower short, wrapping a towel tightly around my waist, and making my way back into the bedroom. Joanna was sleeping again, and I was tempted to wake her up for a bit of early-morning fun, but I didn't think she'd appreciate that.

I got dressed in a pair of jeans, and a plain t-shirt, then shoved my feet into a pair of shoes. It was nearly five when I gave Joanna a last parting kiss, and closed the door softly behind myself.


	5. Chapter 5

1Chapter Five

It was a few hours later, and I noticed that Joanna hadn't gotten out of bed yet. The door to the bedroom opened quietly, and I saw her little cocoon of blankets still huddled around her, the top of her head barely showing under the edge of the sheet.

"Get out of bed, kid." I pulled the covers down over her shoulders, sitting softly on the edge. "It's nearly nine, what are you doing?"

"We haven't even been back for a whole day yet...can't I relax in bed?" She asked, still groggy.

"No...there's work to do here." I pressed a kiss to her cheek, and then another to her lips.

"All work and no play makes Joanna a very dull girl." She reminded me gently, pulling me down for another kiss.

I murmured an agreement, "Yea, but no work from you also makes more for the rest of us...and sitting in bed doesn't really count as play time."

"It does if you join me..." She suggested, lavaciously.

"I don't think so, kid. Not anymore. Earlier, I might have considered, but it's to late now."

Joanna pouted, "Not even a quick little romp?"

"Not even a quick little...romp." I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "C'mon, out of bed. You've got lessons, and I've got repairs to make."

_Joanna's POV_

I worked outside with Tori first. It was mid-June, and very dry outside. We kept a hose handy, just in case the flames got away from us. After a decent work out, setting different things on fire, Tori and I stretched out on the lawn.

"When's your birthday?" Tori asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because, I know it's in July, just not the date."

"The twenty-eighth." I sighed. The realization that I was going to be twenty years old...I had no high school diploma, or even a GED. I wasn't in college, or a tech school. I had been a waitress, and grocery clerk, and now an under qualified instructor for mutant students.

I didn't even know what I had said until Tory exclaimed loudly, "You are not!"

"What?" I asked.

"You are no a loser, Sundry! You're fantastic! We're all better people because of you." Tori turned onto her side, propping her head in her hand, leaning on her elbow. "You've taught me more then any of the other teachers combined."

I smiled softly, "C'mon. Lets go inside."

Tori ran ahead of me, carrying a box of extinguished items. I plodded along myself, ready for the next few students.

After a hectic day of trying not to catch fire, and creating an obstacle course for John (to name a few of my past times), I was tired when I slid into a chair beside Logan.

"Rough day, darlin'?" He asked, handing me the bread-basket.

"Just busy." I shrugged. "Hey, you promised to take me out, tonight..."

"Time got away from me. How about breakfast tomorrow?"

I sighed. "I suppose."

Logan pressed a kiss to my cheek, as stragglers began to sit down in the chairs around the table.

"I see Tori hasn't set anything else on fire lately...that she hasn't supposed to, I mean, You've done good work with her, Joanna." Storm commented, tucking her napkin into her lap, her white hair tied back from her face.

"Thank you -but Tori deserves the credit -not me. She's a bright girl."

"She's come far under your guiding hand -all of your students have." Charles commented.

Logan and I turned simultaneously at a clatter in the hall a moment before it happened

"The Ragin' Cajun is home." Logan commented before returning to his pieces of chicken he had just placed on his plate.

I smiled at Rogue, who suddenly brightened. Gambit had been away since before I even came back to the Institute, with Jubilee, working on some business down in New Orleans. The Professor had thought it would be a good opportunity for the two of them to work together, and perhaps try to overcome their differences.

"Remy is home!" He burst into the kitchen with a bright flourish, the door swinging back and forth on it's hinges, his uniform looking dusty from the road. "Joanna!" His face brightened. "What are you doing here? How long have you been back in Bayville?"

I pondered, "Five months?" I turned to Logan, and he nodded.

"Five months?" Remy shook his head. "Rogue, you need to keep me in the loop." He put a hand on Logan's shoulder. "May I kiss your girlfriend, or is that not acceptable as of yet?"

Logan growled, "Keep it short, La Beau."

Remy smiled, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek, and Jubilee entered, having gone to change out of her uniform first, now wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, with her hair pulled back into a headband. She screeched loudly, covering her mouth.

"Joanna!" She rushed around the table to throw her arms around me. "When the heck did you come back!"

"Late Feburary...Logan found me, I didn't really have a choice."

"You had a choice." Logan chided me, his hand finding my knee under the table. "I could have kept you as my secret Canadian strumpet, but I didn't think about that until after we got back."

"Damn...if only you'd thought of it sooner." I sighed, shaking my head, then turning back to Jubilee. "So, you've been stuck with self-absorbed Remy for six months, how was that?"

"New Orleans was fun." Everyone shifted to make room for Remy and Jubilee at the table. "But it was more work then play." She sighed. "And I was stuck with Remy."

"Oh, I've grown on you, and you on me...so do not complain." Remy shook his head, dishing up a large helping of food. "Thank goodness we don't have to eat any fast food anymore. I was so sick of it after the first week."

"I think I gained ten pounds, with all of the Big Macs I ate." Jubilee groaned, serving her self after Remy was finished. "What's been going on here?" She looked around the table. "Obviously, old habits die hard for these two..." She nodded in the direction of Logan and I. "Anything exciting?"

"Sorry, Jubilee. Nothing to report." Professor Xavier shook his head. "Dull, and tedious here at the home base."

Jubilee sighed.

"Logan and I spent a month in Canada, and bought his ancestral home...well, Logan bought it." I rolled my eyes. "Is that exciting?"

"What?" Jubilee asked. "What's going on?"

"Joanna and I are looking into my past." Logan filled her in. "So far, nothing to great."

"You bought a house?" Remy asked. "Is it nice?"

"It's a work-in-progress. I hired a team to do some repairs while Jo and I back here. We'll probably go back up...when? After Thanksgiving?"

"Do we have to? It's cold up there..." I shivered.

"It's beautiful...you'll love it." Logan assured me.

I sighed.

The rest of the dinner conversation was pleasant, Remy and Jubilee discussing their adventures in New Orleans. Logan and I filled everyone in on what we had been doing up north, and Charles noted the lack of impending doom as of late.

After the dinner things had been cleared, and I made sure that Mark was still on Dining Hall duty, Storm and Professor Xavier cleared the kitchen table to talk over student enrollment for the new year. Most of our students had been abandoned, found by the X-Men and brought to school, living here year round...some, though, were brought by willing parents, who wanted the best for their kids. A lot had changed since I had gone to school here.

After listening to Storm and the Professor talk for a while, Logan and I sat down in the control booth of the Danger Room.

"I want to make a couple simulations for some of my students." I kicked back in a chair, my feet propped in Logan's lap, half facing the simulation screen. "I think I want to introduce Tori and John to the Danger Room. I'm running out of things for them to do outside... And I still need to talk to the Professor about a containment suit for Tori. I don't think we can afford for her to spontaneously combust anymore."

"Good idea." Logan nodded, scribbling the idea on a notepad. "I'll tell him when I talk to him later."

"So...should we make this difficult, or hard?"

"Who are we talking about here? Fireball or the Pussycat?"

"Tori, first."

"Eh. Go easy on her. She's still just a kid. Have her take some stuff out... Blanks, maybe a couple lasers. You don't want her to hurt herself."

I planned the simulation out on the screen, Logan putting his two-cents in on the plan every once in awhile. After I got it simplistic, but rigorous, I saved the simulation as Logan- Joanna Lesson Two, and moved on.

"How about John?" I asked, moving my feet from Logan's lap. "I want something that will test not only his reflexes, but his strength too."

"You should make it like a video game." Logan commented.

"I can't believe that idea just came out of your mouth...and I thought you were old." I pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You mean video games like now-a-day, right? Not like...Mario Brothers or something like that?"

"No, no... I do like my advances in technology, thank you." Logan shook his head. "Here, let me show you." He pushed my chair to the side to make room for his, and began typing things into the keyboard. The product he started was only half complete when he happened to look up at the clock.

"Damn, I gotta meet Charlie. I'll see you later. You sleepin' in my room?" He asked.

"I think about it." I shrugged. "I haven't seen Rogue in awhile."

He made a "hrm" sound, and pressed a kiss to my forehead, making his way out of the room, and I took up on the simulation where he left off.

A long while passed, and I looked up when I sensed someone hovering in the doorway.

"You can come in, you know." I called.

"Hey." Warren poked his head through the door. "I just got back. How are you?"

"Hey! I'm fine. Where you been?"

"Down South. The Professor needed me to check up on some stuff. How long you and Logan been back?" Warren sat down backwards in the vacant chair.

"Last night. Must be a big week for the whole coming-back-to-Bayville thing. Me and Logan, Remy and Jubilee, and now You. Busy two days, I must say."

Warren laughed softly, "So...how is..everything? You learn anything interesting in Vancouver or where ever?"

"Some...not a lot, but some." I nodded. "It's nice to be back at the Institute though. Ever since I got back from being gone so long, I feel more a ease here then anywhere else."

"I know the feeling." He nodded. "It feels like home."

"It is home." I nodded.

"So...since you've been back... Have you talked to anyone? Your parents?"

"I called them." I shrugged. "Let them know I was still alive. I haven't seen them though."

"Lance Hang is back in town. He got home on summer vacation last week, just before I left."

"Oh?" I asked. "That's nice."

"You should go see him." Warren shrugged. "He was really bummed when you split. You being gone made him realize how much he needed to tell his parents about his mutation."

"Don't say 'mutation', Warren. It sounds so dirty." I shivered.

"His 'powers' then." Warren shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"I don't know if I want to see Lance. He was kind of an asshole the last time I talked to him." I sighed.

"Things change...people change." Warren shrugged. "You should at least call him up to say Hi -let him know you're alive."

I turned to look at Warren, dressed in a pair of faded jeans and an expensive looking green sweater, his wings hanging majestically, nearly touching the floor. "You're very strange, Warren Worthington."

"...Thank you?"

I smiled, turning back to the simulation on the screen. After a few moments, I deemed it 'good enough' and saved it as Logan-Joanna Lesson Three, and stretched my arms above my head.

"Well, I'm going to bed. You have a good night, Warren. See you at breakfast."

"Yep." Warren nodded. "G'night Joanna."

Rogue was lounging on her bed when I knocked, softly opening the door.

"Hey." She looked up from her book . "Where's Logan?"

"In a meeting with the Professor." I yawned, kicking off my shoes at the end of the bed. "I need a night by myself, anyway."

"So, really...how was your trip? You never sounded to thrilled on the phone, when I talked to you." Rogue closed her book, sitting up on her bed.

I shrugged. "It was alright. I mean, as alright as it can be to find out things about the man you're in love with, that he doesn't even remember." I sighed. "It's hard, Rogue."

"What? Did he do something?"

"No...well, yes. But it doesn't matter. It was a very long time ago. It doesn't matter. He's different. He was just a kid." I shook my head. "And that house gives me the creeps." I shivered.

Rogue smiled. "I know you didn't want him to buy it."

"It's not that he bought it that bothers me...It's that he wants to stay there, you know? And I can't tell him no, because... well, you know." I shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it. Lets have a work-free night, okay. And no sex questions either." I sighed.

"Oh, no. I don't have any more of those. I don't think I do anyway." Rogue smiled.

"Good." I shook my head. "Because I'm running out of answers!"

The remainder of June ran it's course, followed by most of July. The summer was hot, and stiffling, with the occasional relief from a rainshower, or thunderstorm. Vacation was beginning to lose it's appeal, even though we kept working with all of the remaining students, and everyone was becoming restless.

The night before my birthday, Logan and I stretched out on my bed, Rogue being out on a date with Remy (one of the first she would allow herself). Lately, we had become a little more...adventurous when we were together, getting close in different places, outside of his bedroom. When Rogue wasn't around, we made use of my own room, when the Professor took the students on a field trip with Ororo, Jean, and Scott as chaperones we had even dared to hit a lot of bases in the rec room. We were careful, of course, not to let it get away from us, but that didn't mean we couldn't enjoy the relationship of normal couples, being spontaneous.

"You turn twenty tomorrow..." Logan's voice was gruff in my ear, and I turned the page of the book I was reading in preparation for the GED test.

"I know, don't remind me." I sighed.

"We're still going out for lunch right? With your parents." His voice took a definite sour note with the mention of my parents.

I laughed. "Yes, Logan. We're going to have lunch with my parents. It'll be OK. I already talked to my Dad, and he said Mom would be on her best behavior."

Logan gave a slight nod, pressing a kiss to my neck.

"Not right now, Logan. I have a lot of studying to do."

"Then study... I'm not stoppin' you, darlin'." Logan's trail of kisses moved up my jaw, his tongue lapping at my ear lobe for a moment.

I bit my lip, "Logan..." He fell back, hearing the warning tone in my voice.

"Right, right. This is important. I know." He leaned forward to press a kiss to my lips. "I'm going to bed. It's late. Don't stay up to much longer...and feel free to come join me at any time."

"Good night, Logan." I watched him leave before turning to glance at the clock.

He was right. It was late, and Rogue and Remy weren't back yet from their date. I hoped that everything was OK, but I wasn't going to pry.

Not long after I had flicked off the lamp to try and fall asleep, Rogue opened the door, and flicked on the lamp, paused for a moment, and then flicked it off again.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were in here." I heard her sit on the edge of her bed, and begin to remove her boots, which fell with a clunk on the floor.

"It's OK. I wasn't sleeping yet." I flicked on my own lamp, and yawned. "It's late -is that a good sign?"

Rogue shrugged, "It was fun. But nothin' happened of course."

"Did you want something to happen?" I asked.

"No! Of course not! I don't..." Rogue shook her head. "You're so lucky, Joanna." She sighed, moving from the bed, to get a change of clothes from the dresser, which she quickly changed into. "You don't have to worry about hurting the people you care about. I want so badly to just...you know...be with Remy the way you are with Logan. But I can't."

I sighed, "You're still learning to control your powers, Rogue. You just need to be patient." I sat up in bed.

"I'm tired of being patient, Jo. I want to live like a normal person...that's all that kept going through my mind when I was on that pitiful excuse for a date... I couldn't even touch the guy. What kind of date is that?" Rogue moved again, to push open the curtain of the window, and stare out over the grounds.

I bit my lip, pushing the covers off, and went to join her, linking my arm around hers. "Look at this from another perspective, Rogue... Remy knows all of this, but he still wants to be with you. As much as he can be, anyway."

Rogue sighed. "He's stupid, then."

"No, he's not... Well, not about this. He sees the real you...the you that I see." I put my head against her shoulder. "He doesn't think you're just another pretty face... He knows that you're deeper then that. He knows you're special."

"Stop tryin' to give me some kind of pep talk." Rogue sighed. "You're always trying to make things better, Jo... I just want to be pissed off for a little while."

"Okay, okay." I sighed, unlinking arms with her, and stepping away, back towards bed. "I'm going to sleep then. You be pissed off tonight, and I'll resume the pep talk when you're ready."

I woke up the next morning to several bodies bounding on top of my bed. Logan placed a kiss against my cheek, and I groaned.

"It's my birthday, damn it." I sighed, cracking open an eye. I could see Logan, kneeling on the floor in front of me, Rogue had stretched out behind me, Remy beside her, his hand possessively on her blue-jean covered knee. Warren was hovering in the back, Jubilee on the foot of my bed, Kitty and Kurt had claimed spots on the very edge, and even the Professor had made himself comfortable, just inside of the door. "Whoa, I didn't think this many people would fit in our room, Rogue." I sat up in bed, yawning. "What are you all doing here again?"

"Giving you birthday presents." Jubilee handed me a brightly wrapped gift she had seemingly pulled from no where.

I sighed, "At eight o'clock in the morning?"

"Oh, this is only the beginning, kid." Logan shook his head. "We have an entire day planned... now c'mon...open 'em." Everyone dropped boxes, or bags into my lap.

I took Jubilee's first, peeling off the tape, and pulling out a garment box. Inside, I found a hockey jersey with 'Darius' printed across the back. Next, I was tempted to open the largest box, which was propped against the bed, at Kitty's feet, but opted instead for a small gift bag from Warren.

I wasn't surprised that it was jewelry. Warren was famed for getting jewelry for all occasions. This time, it was a tiny little faerie pendant, which hung elegantly from a silver chain.

After opening the box from Rogue and Remy (a shoulder bag I had been admiring for a very long time), a gift bag containing massaging oils (that came with a card that read only 'Use Wisely' in very Germanic looking handwriting), and a bag containing three CD's I had been wanting from Kitty, I was left with the large box on the floor.

"Is this heavy?" I asked, letting Logan take away the wrappings from the other gifts, and Kitty hoisted the box onto my lap. "Whose it from?"

"The Professor and I chipped in for it." Logan perched carefully on the edge of my night stand. "Open it."

I leisurely ripped off the wrapping paper from one side, then tore it down, reading the insignia stamped across the box. I raised an eyebrow at Logan, and he shrugged. Carefully, I lifted off the lid, and shrieked.

Black. Leather. Coat. Three little words to describe the best things in life. Now, I had had black leather coats in the past, but this one was different. It was long, daring, undeniably 'me'. It was similar to the coat of my old uniform, but a little bulkier.

"I knew you'd like it." Logan kissed my forehead.

"Like it? I love it!" I kissed him. "Thank you Professor."

"You're very welcome, Joanna..." The Professor began to move his chair out of the door. "Come on now...let's let Joanna get dressed, and we'll have breakfast, hm?"

"Happy Birthday, Jo." Rogue gave me a hug, resting her cheek against my shoulder for a second. "Sorry about last night, by the way."

"It's OK." I patted her gloved hand, and Kitty and Kurt moved to let her and Remy off of the bed.

"Happy Birthday." Remy kissed my cheek.

"Thanks." I smiled, and watched everyone go from my room, until it was only Logan and I left.

"Finally...I thought they'd never leave." Logan gave me a proper kiss, savoring it for an extra moment.

"Mmm...I thought the Professor said to get out, so I could get dressed?"

"You sure you don't want to give these a test drive?" Logan asked, picking up the oils from Kurt. "We've got some time."

I smiled, "What's really on your mind?" I asked, moving the gifts aside, and shifting to sit on the edge of the bed.

Logan knelt down, putting his hands on my knees. "I love you. -I haven't told you that in awhile."

"Uh huh." I nodded. "That's what I like about you...I don't have to hear it from you every five minutes to know that it's true." I kissed him again. "C'mon, let me get dressed. I'm hungry." I started to stand.

"Hold on a minute." He held my hand. "I have another present for you."

"Hm?" I asked, blinking at him, sitting again.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a jewelers box.

"Didn't anyone tell you that jewelry is Warren's thing? He's gonna be pissed." I teased.

Logan smiled, "This is different." The box opened with a creak, and I was staring at the most gorgeous three-stone ring I'd ever seen in my life. "I want you to marry me." He looked down at the ring, then back at me, "This all seemed a lot less cheesy when I was practicing it in the mirror earlier."

I laughed, putting my arms around his neck, and pressing a kiss to his lips.

"Is that a yes?" He asked.

"Of course! Did you ever dream that I would say no?" I asked, lifting the ring out of the box, and putting it on my left ring finger. "What do the stones mean?"

Logan moved onto bed beside me, "Once again, this all seemed less cheesy earlier... The first stone is January, the second stone is July, and the third stone is December...'cause I'll love you year round, not just once in awhile." He pressed a kiss to my cheek, putting his arms around my waist, as I examined the ring.

"It's gorgeous. Thank you." I turned. The ring wasn't important -what was important was that Logan even had the courage to ask me such a question -a question I wasn't even sure we were ready for...but we were engaged. Seriously. No longer at the 'boyfriend/girlfriend' stage... real, actual fiances.

"I'm glad you like it." Logan nodded, accepting another kiss. "But you better get dressed."

"Can I tell people?" I asked, moving from the bed towards the closet to pick out an outfit for the day.

"What do you mean? Logan asked, watching me.

"Like...are we keeping this between us, or no?"

"I hadn't thought about it." Logan shrugged. "Some people already know. What do you want to do?"

I pondered for a moment, pulling out a light-weight t-shirt from a shelf, and then pulling a pair of cut offs out of a drawer. "We have to tell some people, of course. But lets agree not to tell my parents -yet."

"Agreed." Logan nodded.

We talked while I got dressed, then headed downstairs together, hand-in-hand towards the kitchen. The school was quiet, those few students that were still at the school for the summer still in bed, or already off to do their daily thing. The kitchen, however, was abuzz with commotion as we entered.

I noticed quite a few people raising eyebrows and giving knowing looks to Logan, who nodded.

"Lets see it." Rogue, took my hand, and whistled. "Damn! Logan, look at that!"

"Exquisite Logan." Storm gave a nod of satisfaction. "Congratulations...This is has been a long time coming, I'm sure."

There were murmurs of congratulations, and Happy Birthdays mixed together, and we all sat down around the table.

"So, you guys said you had a whole day planned...what's going on?" I asked, helping myself to a couple of pancakes, and some sausage.

"Well, we're meeting your parents at ten to do some shopping I guess, at the Krab Shack, then we're coming back here, play some _power free_ volleyball, and cook out for dinner. Your parents are more then welcome to join us for that, by the way." Logan informed me, pouring a glass of orange juice for me.

"Sounds like lots of fun."

Little did I know how much fun my twentieth birthday _wasn't_ going to be. It was all going fine. Logan and I met my parents on the strip in Bayville, my ring tucked safely away on a chain under my shirt, and everything was going topnotch. My parents were very close, talking and laughing, my mother not molesting Logan (as she was inclined to do at times), and my father was keeping her check of her usual twit-like ways.

Neither Logan or I noticed at all the whizzing sounds of the bullets that hit me until it was to late. I couldn't phase them through me, and It was to late to teleport. I had never been shot before, and it was a painful, searing, burning sensation, all along my back. I heard my mother shriek and I fell face forward onto the pavement.

"Jo!" Logan fell to the ground beside me, his senses tuned towards where the shots had come from.

I couldn't hear him though. Everything was fuzzy, and my entire body suddenly ached. I tried to phase just enough for the bullets to pass the rest of the way through me, but I only got half way through the process, not having enough energy, driving them through nonexistent exit wounds. I heard my own scream of pain, and Logan turned me over, gasping at the sight of bullets pushing up through my stomach.

"Jo, hold on." He whispered. "The Doc will get this fixed...just hold on."

After that, I remember waking up in the hospital wing of the infirmary. My body still ached, and I was heavily bandaged...but something else was different too.

"Logan, she's waking up." I heard Hank McCoy whisper.

My eyes cracked open, and I saw the rush for someone to be at my side.

"Jo...Jo, you're OK. Do you know what happened?" Logan asked.

I thought back, "I got shot."

Logan nodded, "But you're OK. You tried to phase the bullets, but you couldn't hold it long enough. Doc got 'em out, but...while you were out... you...you must have triggered something else...mentally."

"What?" I asked.

"Joanna...do you feel any...different."

"What are you talking, Logan?" I asked.

"Jo...you've opened a new area of your power."

I looked at him quizzically.

"You don't have control anymore. You took on some physical mutations."

"What?" I asked, completely baffled. "What are you talking about?"

"Honey...Jo. Just think for a minute." Logan looked worried. "Don't you feel...odd."

"I hurt like hell...I thought it was because I just _got shot_." I snapped.

"Doc...will you talk to her?" Logan moved away, rubbing at his eyes.

Hank took his spot, biting his lip. "Joanna, this is what happened... One of the bullets hit part of your brain...that part is what was keeping unexplored areas of your power in check -we never thought that this...this could happen. You've begun to take on the physical mutation of some of the people you've come into contact with."

"Like who?" I asked.

"Warren...Kurt...and Jon. As far as we know."

"What?" I asked, lifting my hand where I could see it. Blue-streaked skin was staring back at me. I gasped, and then I felt the wings under my shoulders as I fought to sit up, and the tail made it's self evident, whipping underneath the blankets. My breath became fast pased, and I felt myself start to panic.

"Why? Why is this happening? Make it go away." I cried. "Dr. McCoy, make it go away."

"Joanna, calm down." Logan returned to my side, pulling me into his arms. "Relax. It's OK."

"No, no, it's not OK, Logan! Look at my skin!"

"If this is about how you look, then we have a lot to talk about, Jo." Logan held my face in his hands. "Relax."

"Logan...I don't want to be different." I shook my head. "I want this all to go away again."

"Shh..." He let me hide against his shoulder. "We're working on what happened, sweetheart. You just need to relax."

"Other then this opening of your mutation, Joanna...you're fine. The wounds have healed nicely, I was able to remove all of the bullets... The police haven't, however, been able to catch who ever did this to you. We believe that who ever did this, may have known that it may have caused this unlocking of your mutation." Hank stood up. "If you think you're ready, maybe you'd like to take a walk? You've been out for almost three days."

I looked at Logan, "Does everyone know about this? ...This mutation thing?"

Logan nodded. "We've all stayed with you, in shifts. Rogue watched it happen and freaked."

I sat back. "I don't want to go out there like this."

"Joanna, c'mon... it's fine." Logan coaxed me. "You're beautiful, wings, tail, and all."

"All? Is there something else?" I asked. "Besides the blue pigmenting?"

Dr. McCoy and Logan looked at one another. Hank nodded, and moved to hand a small hand mirror to Logan.

"Before I let you look..." Logan looked looked me straight in the eye. "I still love you...this doesn't make any difference. Okay?"

I felt my eyes grow hard, and I took the mirror from him, lifting it. The face staring back at me wasn't mine. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the yellow eyed demon away. More blue stained my forehead, cheeks, and chin, but there was tan coloring much like the pigment coloration of John. I felt the tears flow from the corners of my eyes.

"Jo...it's not that bad." Logan tried to sweet-talk me, taking the mirror away. "It's kind of sexy..."

"Are you crazy, Logan? I'm a fucking monster." I covered my face with my hands.

"Hey..." Logan pulled my hands down. "Don't do that. Yea, so you've got some pretty interesting identifying marks, but so what? I still love you, regardless. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

I cried, soaking the front of Logan's shirt.


	6. Chapter 6

1Chapter Six

Rogue came to visit me in the infirmary. She sat quietly, and I stared out of the window at the manicured lawns, the feeling of never wanting to feel sunlight against my skin ever again washing over me.

"Are you OK?" She finally asked.

I shrugged, my new wings rustling, and my tail twitched with a mind of it's own.

"It's not so bad, Jo." Rogue tried to assure me. "I mean, if it's the blue thing, a lot of people are blue right now... Kurt, Dr. McCoy, Mystique...That's probably a bad example."

"It's not that, Rogue." I sighed. "I can deal with the blue streaks."

"Then what is it?" She asked.

"The wings for a start." I reached around to pull lightly on one black feathered wing. "I want them off. It's like a Halloween costume gone wrong. And the tail... the tail thinks for it's self." I pulled it towards me. It was a banded print, half blue fur, half tan fur, ending with a pointed spear on the end, like Kurt's.

"Have you tried morphing?" Rogue suggested.

"I can't." I shook my head. "Dr. McCoy said it could be awhile until I regain use of all my powers. Morphing is to hard. I can barely keep all of the voices out of my head." I turned to look at her. "And besides, it's all I can do to keep another Cyclops Episode from happening." I motioned over towards the wall where two tiny holes had seemed to have been drilled into the wall.

"But you'll regain control again, soon." Rogue assured me. "And you can hide this new stuff." She got up to tug on one of my wings. "Just give yourself time. You can make this work."

"I don't want this to work, Rogue. I want it to go away." I sighed. "I am completely grotesque."

"You are not!" Rogue put her arm around my waist, resting her head against my shoulder. "You're beautiful -wings, tail, blue skin, and all."

I was quiet, not believing her. How could something so terribly wrong be beautiful? I wasn't supposed to look like this...I was supposed look normal -be able to blend with regular people. I couldn't blend in like this. I didn't want to have to hide.

"Jo?" Rogue startled me out of my day dream. "Logan wants to talk to you." She had moved away from me now, and was holding out the telephone. Earlier, in the morning, Logan had left (after making sure I was alright) to help look for the shooter.

I took the phone, "Find anything?"

"No. I'm sorry sweetheart, but the trail is cold. None of us know where to go to from here." Logan sighed in my ear. "But really...you're OK. That's what's important."

"I'm glad you think so."

Logan didn't miss the sarcastic note in my voice.

"Jo, this is going to take some getting used to... It's going to be alright."

"I'm so sick of people telling me that Logan." I gritted my teeth. "Everything is _not_ alright. I turned into some kind of a freak, over night, and I can't make it go away. Do you know how hard that is? To look like something you're not?" As I spoke, the little tell-tale whisps of green began to encircle the fist at my side. "Do you have any idea, at all?"

"Jo, calm down."

I felt the anger building, and I hung up on him, sitting on the edge of the infirmary bed, putting my head between my knees, letting the phone dangle in my hands for a few minutes. Rogue watched on, trying not to seem as helpless as she was. I knew she wanted to comfort me, but I couldn't be consoled. Something had gone terribly wrong, and nothing could fix it except for time, and willpower.

"The Professor said it might be a good idea for you to get back into the class room." Rogue suggested. "The students arrived back yesterday...there are a few new students I think you would enjoy working with."

"I don't want to face people like this, Rogue." I shook my head. "I want to crawl into a hole, and stay there until I can change back." I hid my face from her against the soft material of my jeans.

"Just relax, sugar. Give yourself some time to heal."

I sighed. Rogue was right, but I wasn't listening to reason. It was as if we had switched roles -Rogue was the one giving consoling advice, and I was the one with the problem. It was different, and I didn't like it.

Three days later, Logan coaxed me from the infirmary. I had a choice; I could stay in the bedroom with Rogue or I could stay with Logan. Dr. McCoy and Professor Xavier were playing the 'cruel and unusual' card by not letting me return to the infirmary. I tried not to notice Logan's shoulder's slump when I decided to stay with Rogue.

"Are you sure? You can always change your mind." Logan assured me.

"No offense Logan," I pulled him aside for just him to hear. "I can't be with you like that, right now. Eventually, someday soon, but not right now."

Logan nodded, trying to understand. My mental walls cracked for a moment and I thought I heard him through the din of voices suddenly filling my head.

**_"Damn -why can't she see that I just want to be with her?"_**

I put my hands to my head, trying to stop the voices. My ability seemed heightened after, what we had begun referring to as, the accident. I wasn't just getting voices from inside the same room -I was getting voices from over the entire school. Not even Logan, who has had extensive training against telekinetic intruders, was able to block me out.

"Are you okay?" Logan's hand were on my shoulders.

"Yea, I'm fine. Just tired." I shook my head. "I'm going to bed. Good night." I forced myself to press a quick kiss against his cheek, feigning that everything was going to be all right. Then, I entered my room and closed the door quietly behind me.

It took a few minutes to get the voices to stop, but eventually they did. I slid into bed, uncomfortably, my wings being a bit of a problem.

"Is there anything I can get for you before I turn in, Jo?" Rogue offered as she entered.

"No thanks. I'm just going to go to sleep."

Early the next morning, when I thought for sure no one else was going to be awake, I made my way quietly down to the kitchen. The mansion was still dark, and the sun was just beginning to stain the sky.

"Jo?" I turned suddenly from where I was making a pot of coffee. Warren stood in the doorway, looking concerned. They look on his face, the mixture of disbelief, shame, worry, and blame smeared his features. "I...I had hoped it wasn't true."

"What?" I asked, turning back to the coffee pot. "That I turned into some kind of tell-tale freak? Yea. It's true."

Warren's breath hissed, and I heard a chair scrape the floor behind me.

"I suppose I can't blame you for being angry at me. After all, I basically gave you those wings."

I sighed. "I don't blame you, Warren. I don't blame you, or Kurt, or John, or any one else for this."

"Then why are you being so hostile?"

"I didn't want anyone to see me like this." I shook my head.

"Why not?" Warren asked, suddenly standing behind me. "Joanna...you're beautiful."

"Stop trying to sweet-talk me, Warren."

_Warren's POV_

I felt so helpless, watching Joanna. I felt responsible for part of this mutation. It was my touch -my kisses that had done that to her.

I tried to resist the temptation to take her into my arms, and to comfort her. Besides a few pecks on the cheek, I had tried to limit my involvement with Joanna since her return. But now, when I saw what had happened to her... all of those feelings that I thought I had suppressed and driven away, flooded back to me.

I hated to see her like this; so sad and lonely.

I touched her shoulder, trying not to notice how she flinched under my hand. "Look, I know that I'm probably one of the last people you want to speak with right now...but I'm here, if you want to talk."

"Thanks, Warren. I'll keep that in mind."

I bit the tip of my tongue, and made my way out of the kitchen. I made myself promise that I wasn't going to push her. I wanted to be the understanding ex-boyfriend, with a lot to offer...not the pushy guy with the wings.

On the way down the hall, I nearly bumped in Logan, who didn't look happy.

"What are you looking so downtrodden about, Worthington?" He asked.

"Nothing... Jo's in the kitchen, if you're looking for her."

I tried to ignore the slightly growl Logan threw my way, and continued onto the room that I still shared with Kurt. He was still in bed, sleeping, one leg thrown out of the bed, his tail laying still across the covers. I wouldn't be surprised if he drooled on the pillow.

My desk was littered with paperwork, as I sat down. I sighed. The Professor had sent me on a lot of crap-missions lately, and the governmental paperwork was beginning to pile up. I loved the save-the-world thing, but the paperwork, I could do without.

Lunchtime was a godsend, after demolishing the loads of work left on my desk. I rested against the kitchen counter, drinking a glass of water while the others filed into the room.

"Where's Joanna?" I asked, sitting between Rogue and the Professor at one end of the table, across from Ororo.

Rogue and Logan looked at each other, before she responded. "Jo hasn't been having such a great day...she decided to take some down time."

"What happened?" I inquired. "I talked to her this morning -she seemed fine...a little aggressive, but OK."

Rogue bit her tongue. "I'll tell you about it later, Warren." She ducked her head, her hair falling over her face, hiding her expression as she took a small helping of potatoes, and then covered them with a ladle full of chicken gravy.

_Joanna's POV_

My day hadn't gone as planned. I was going to attempt to conduct my classes again. I missed my students -Tori in particular, for some reason. -And the conducting of class was easy, since I had made the Danger room exercises for quite a few of them. I was able to hide up in the control booth, behind the holographs, and it was working well, until Mark entered the room, cracking his knuckles.

"Hey." He nodded at me. "What happened to you?" He raised an eyebrow.

I bit my tongue. "I got shot -what happened to you?" I raised an eyebrow, noting his rather beat-up ensemble.

"A couple buddies of mine had a disagreement." He shrugged. "What am I doing today?"

"You'll go downstairs, and once you're ready, I'll start the program I set up for you. Tomorrow, I'll be setting up teams, and you'll start integrating teamwork into your sessions."

"Sounds cool." He nodded, making his way towards the stairs, with a nod of his head.

Halfway through the simulation, my hands started bothering me, sharp little pains above my knuckles. I tried cracking them to release the pressure, but it didn't work. Finally, the pain got unbearable. I closed my eyes, and flexed my hands, unpleasantly surprised when long, bone claws emitted from my hands.

Jon was just entering the booth, early for his lesson. His eyes widened at the sight of the blood covering my hands, and the bone spikes coming from both hands.

"Miss Darius!" He knelt on the floor beside me. "What happened? What's going on?"

"I don't know, Jon." I shook my head. "Go find someone...Logan, or Rogue, or Dr. McCoy."

He nodded, frantically, pouncing out of the room, and down the hall, just as Mark came up the stairs.

"Yo, what happened to the simul- Holy Shit! What the hell!" Mark took a step backwards. "Are you alright? That doesn't look healthy!"

"Shut up Mark, for once. Please?" I asked, trying to get the claws to return to their place in my hands.

"Jo, what happened?" Logan's frame filled the door. "Oh god." He saw the blood dripping from my hands, on to the floor of the control booth. "Lets get you upstairs."

"It won't stop bleeding, Logan." I whispered, letting him pull me up from the chair, and usher me from the room. "Why won't it stop?"

Dr. McCoy cleaned the blood from my hands, carefully avoiding the claws.

"I assume this is something she got from you, Logan?" Dr. McCoy raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's possible, Doc." He shrugged. "Why didn't we see this before? With all of the X-rays we took, you'd think we'd notice."

"We never really took x-rays of her hands, Logan." Dr. McCoy raised an eyebrow. "I never thought about it before, but it makes sense, with all of the contact she has with you."

"Stop talking about me as if I am not in the room." I whispered. "How do I get these things to go back in?"

"Oh, right." Logan knelt down on the chair behind me. "You've got to kind of...pull them down, from right here in the arm." He traced an area on my fore arm. "You'll get the hang of it."

"I don't want to get the hang of it, Logan...I want all of this to go away." I sighed, trying to pull the claws back into their rightful place, but failing miserably.

"Doc, could we get a few minutes alone?" Logan asked.

"Of course, Logan. I've got some other things to check on. I'll be back in a few minutes."

After the doctor was safely out of the room, Logan pressed a kiss to my cheek. "I love you, Jo." He kissed me again, this time on the lips. "Now take a deep breath, and let them go in on their own."

I took his advice, and the claws slid neatly back into place, the area they had sliced out of healing over nicely.

Logan ran his fingers over the skin. "I know you hate this question, but...are you alright? No lasting emotional scars or anything?"

"I'm fine...just dandy." I nodded.

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Why don't we go get something to eat, huh?"

"I'm not hungry." I shook my head. "I just want to go to sleep for a little while... can you cover my last couple of students?"

"Sure." He nodded. "Just run the simulations, right?"

"Yea," I nodded. "Pretty simple stuff."

"Alright," he nodded. "I'll check on you later."

I nodded, and watched him leave the room.

Once back in my own room, I closed my eyes, trying to focus. I wanted a decent sleep...without wings. If I could get control of my morphing powers again, I could get rid of them, and sleep like a normal person. However, no amount of energy-draining concentration was getting rid of the feathered annoyances on my back.

Eventually, physically and emotionally drained, I stopped, and kicked off my shoes to crawl under the covers, and closed my eyes.

Time passed, and I was jerked back into reality when the door swung open.

"Knock knock." Warren tapped his knuckle against the doorframe. "Did I wake you?"

I shook my head, "No...no, I was just resting my eyes, I guess. What's up?" I sat up, uncomfortably, my tail flicking underneath the sheet in annoyed tapping motions.

"I just wanted to make sure you were OK. Rogue told me what happened."

"It's no big deal. I should be used to this stuff happening to me by now... It's only fitting that I have a set of bone claws to go with his ensemble, huh?" I asked, my fingertips running over the area above my knuckles where they had emitted from earlier.

Warren invited himself in, sitting on the edge of the bed, taking my hands in his. "Jo...I have to ask you something... And I don't want you to take it the wrong way or anything... Since this has happened...are you and Logan...are you still going along with your plans?"

"Excuse me?"

"Are you still engaged?"

I paused, looking at him, confused, "What would give you the idea that we weren't."

Warren smiled softly, shaking his head, "Nothing, nothing of course. I just...I noticed that the two of you aren't as...as..." He concentrated, trying to find the right way to word what he wanted to say, "The two of you aren't as intimate as you were before the accident."

"Would you want to be intimate with me if you were Logan?"

"So you're saying that Logan is the one that's moving away from the relationship?"

I shook my head, "No...Warren...It's me. It's not Logan. I can't..." I shook my head again. "I can't be who I used to be when I'm like this... It's not fair to him."

Warren's fingers stroked the skin above my knuckles, and I pulled my hand away from him. I wasn't sure what he was trying to do -get me to turn against Logan, get me to turn against myself... Either way, I didn't like it.

"Maybe you should go, Warren. I kind of tired."

"Sure, of course." He stood. "Would you like me to get anything for you?"

"Um...could you see if Rogue has a few minutes? I'd like to talk to her."

"Certainly." He nodded, and let himself out of the room.

Once he was gone, I sat up against the headboard, pulling my blankets up around my waist, pulling my knees up to my chest. I sat like that until Rogue opened the door a few minutes later.

"Warren said you wanted to talk to me?" She asked.

"Rogue, do you think that something's changed between Logan and I since this whole thing happened?" I asked.

Rogue tilted her head, sitting backwards in my desk chair beside the bed. "What do you mean, sugar?"

"Warren...when he was in here...what he said..." I shook my head.

"Look, I don't know what Warren said to you, but if anything, Logan loves you more then ever...he almost lost you, and he's not going to risk you again willingly. You should have seen him when you were in the infirmary. He never left your side, and I know he wanted to go out there and look for whoever did this to you so badly... But he wanted to be the first person you saw when you woke up."

"You don't think that I'm being to...distant with him, am I?"

"Honey, you just went through a traumatic experience...I'd be more worried if you weren't a little distant." Rogue tilted her head, brushing back a strand of white hair that fell in front of her face. "Look, ignore whatever the hell it is that Warren said -chances are, he has no clue what he's talking about, and he's just jealous because he knows that he doesn't have anyone that would do what Logan has done for you, if he were in your place."

I nodded. "Thanks, Rogue. You always know how to make things better."


	7. Chapter 7

1Chapter Seven

Later that night, I made the short trek down the hall to Logan's room, knocking softly when I knew he would be in.

"Who is it?" He called gruffly from inside.

"It's Jo." I called back.

"Come in, darlin'." Logan called. "Pardon the mess -I was lookin' for something."

I glanced around the room, things scattered everywhere. "What exactly where you looking for?"

"Doesn't matter, sweetheart." He shook his head. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking." I crossed my arms over my stomach, standing at his window, looking out over the grounds.

"About what?" He stood behind me, a hand placed lightly, lovingly, on my shoulder, his breath warm against my throat as he leaned over me.

"Just...things. Warren said...some stuff to me this afternoon."

Logan grunted, and I smiled softly.

"It wasn't bad, or anything Logan. It just made me worry."

"If it made you worry, then it wasn't anything to nice, darlin'. What'd the fairy say to you?"

"He just asked me some...personal stuff."

"Personal...like, about us?"

"Kind of. He asked if, since accident, we were still... you know, engaged."

Logan grunted. "Figures he'd try to move in on you when he thought you were on the rebound."

I smiled softly again, and then turned to him, "Are we Logan? Are we still engaged?"

"Honey, as far as I'm concerned, we're already married." He pressed a kiss to my lips, savoring it for an extra moment. "You don't need some band on your finger to be mine."

I was quiet for a moment, and then rested my head against his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist, "I'm sorry Logan."

"For what, darlin'?" He asked, brushing his fingers through my hair.

"For everything that I've done since the accident... I feel like I'm not here for you anymore...like I'm slowly resisting everything you try to give to me."

"It's alright, sweetheart." He hugged me, back, his hands clasping under my wings. "I understand...sort of, anyway."

"Will you come stay with me, until I fall asleep, Logan?" I asked. "Rogue is out on a mission with some of the others."

"Of course. Anything you want." He nodded.

I took his hand, leading him back to my own room, crawling underneath the blankets, and curling up closely next to him. It felt like it had been forever since I had been with him. He didn't see me as a monster...I was still 'me', just with a couple of new changes...not necessarily improvements, granted, but he still loved me.

One of Logan's arms draped loosely over my hip, our hands clasped together between us. For the first time, in a very long while, I slept without any problems.

When I awoke the next morning, Logan was still next to me, and Rogue was asleep in the bed across the room. I yawned, unclasping my hand from Logan's, and moving from under his arms. I felt better then I had since I had first woken up in the Infirmary, over a week ago.

Logan grumbled, reaching out for me, pulling me back to him. "Stay."

I smiled. "It's nearly seven...we should get up."

Logan grumbled again, and repeated himself. "Stay."

I smiled, snuggling up against him. "For a little while."

Logan's eyes open slightly, sleepily. "Rogue in bed?"

I peered over his shoulder, even though I knew the answer, "Yep...but I think she's out cold, if that helps."

Logan smirked, pulling me forward for a kiss, long and deep, his fingertips inching underneath the hem of my t-shirt for a moment before settling on my hips. My tail, with the notorious mind of it's own, inched up his thigh before tapping rhythmically against the edge of the bed. Logan grabbed it, holding the end in his hand.

"I outta cut this thing off..." He growled. "Or you could at least learn how to use the damn thing..." He raised an eyebrow suggestively and I held back my laugh, pressing another kiss to his lips.

"Should I have Kurt give me lessons?" I teased.

Logan shook his head, "God no. Who knows what he'd teach you."

Across the room Rogue grumbled, "Some people are tryin' ta sleep, ya know." her southern drawl was more apparent in her half-sleeping daze.

"C'mon, darlin'...we can continue this in the privacy of my room, if you like."

"I think we'd better not." I pressed a kiss to his lips. "I got stuff I need to catch up on...I've been out of commission to long as it is."

Logan growled, nibbling softly at my ear, then at my throat. "Fine...fine...but this is far from over."

"You promise?" I smiled at him. He peered up at me, his dark eyes giving me a penetrating stare.

"If you can handle going through a whole day without catastrophe...I promise." He nodded.

"Okay then.." I nodded pulling myself out of his arms. "I'm going to get dressed then... I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast?"

Logan grunted agreement, pushing himself off of the bed, looking rumbled in the clothes he had, had on the night before.

Downstairs a little while later, I handed Logan a mug of freshly made, hot coffee before pouring myself a glass of grape juice.

"Well, don't you two look right chipper this morning?" Warren raised an eyebrow at us, filling his own coffee mug, taking swig of it, before topping it off again.

Logan grunted, taking a bagel out of the breadbox. "I'll be down in the garage working on the Blackbird if anyone needs me. I'll see you later." He pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth, before stalking from the kitchen.

"You sure know how to clear a room, Warren." I shook my head.

"I see you took what I said to heart." Warren poured some CoffeeMate into his mug, before testing it again. "Back to the regular Logan-and-Joanna, right?"

"What is your problem?" I asked, placing my hand on my hip. "You've been an asshole ever since I got back."

Warren was quiet, biting his tongue, before he turned to me, "Do you want the truth, or just what you want to hear?"

"I want the truth, Warren." I crossed my arms.

"Do you remember when we were together? For that month?"

"Of course." I nodded. "How could I forget?"

"Then you also remember why we stopped seeing each other. You kissing Logan, and your premonition."

I nodded.

"I still have feelings for you, Joanna. I love you. You have no idea how much it hurts, to look at the two of you and to know that it could have been me, if only I had gotten here sooner, or if Logan hadn't gone to your rescue on that mission that Christmas. If only it had been me. Every time I look at the two of you, I'm reminded that I missed my chance, and now...I'm not going to get another chance. I missed my opportunity."

"Warren...I still care about you. Just not the way you want me to. You're like a brother to me." I shook my head. "No one can take that way... if you really loved me, you'd be happy for me. Happy that I have a guy like Logan who cares about me so much, still cares about me even though...I'm not the girl I used to be."

"And I am, Jo." Warren shook his head, turning away. "I just...I can't help wishing that it was me."

I sat in the control both of the Danger Room, altering together several of my student's programs when Logan entered the room behind me.

"Hey, darlin'." He pressed a kiss to my cheek. "How are you?"

"Fine." I shrugged. "My knuckles itch something crazy, though."

"You'll learn to control it." He assured me. "Professor Xavier wanted me to give you this." He took my wrist, and wrapped a watch-like object around it.

"A new watch?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It's an image inducer...so we can go out tonight."

"Go out where?" I asked, clicking the image inducer on, my tail and wings vanishing, the markings on my face disappearing. "Someplace special?"

"Just out to dinner... I thought it would be nice for you to get out on the town again. We could stop by the carnival, if you wanted."

"I don't know, Logan...it's going to be really crowded...what if the inducer malfunctioned?"

"Don't worry so much, darlin'." He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I'll meet you downstairs at four, okay? I have early reservations for us."

I nodded, "Okay. I'll be ready."

"Wear something...casual." He added as an afterthought as he made his way through the door. "Comfortable."

"I always do." I smiled.

"This is strange..." I held on to Logan's arm, keeping close to him as we walked around the carnival grounds. Others from the Institute were scattered around, as well as familiar faces from high school, old peers home for the summer, and then the random assortment of Bayville's population. "To be outside...around people..."

"But you're enjoying yourself, right?" Logan asked. "That's the most important part."

"Yea. I am." I nodded, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Dinner was fabulous, the carnival is great and...the company is just what I need."

"I'm glad..." Logan nodded, clasping his hand in mine, pulling me behind him. "So, what do you want to do? Games? Rides? Food?"

"I don't know..." I pondered. "I'm kind of content with just standing...right here." I pulled him to a stop, and tugged him back into my arms. Logan's mouth curved in a smirk, and pressed a kiss to my lips.

"I paid ten bucks for us to get in here...as much as I'd love to stand here and make out with you, I think I want my money's worth."

I laughed, and nodded, "Alright, alright. Lets find Rogue and Kurt, and go on Tilt-a-whirl...that's the best ride."

"I think I'll leave that to the three of you, but okay." Logan nodded.

We had only been looking for Rogue and Kurt for a few minutes when I heard my name behind me.

"Joanna Darius?"

I turned, surprised. Lance Hang still home for the summer, and looking the part in a pair of cut off shorts, a surf-shop tee, and a pair of flip flops.

"Lance...Hi." I took the sight of him, actually in front of my eyes. The last time I had seen him had been before Christmas break in my last year of high school, just before leaving the parking lot. He had given me a soft smile, and a half wave that I had ignored.

"How are you?" He asked, moving to hug me. I stepped backwards, against Logan.

"I'm good." I nodded, still surprised to see him. Logan rested a hand on my hip in a comforting manner, but didn't say anything.

"I heard you got shot...but you look good for having just been shot."

"You're not exactly seeing the real me." I shrugged.

"Look...Jo...can we talk without the bodyguard?" Lance asked.

"He's not my bodyguard, Lance. He's my fiancé." I retorted. "And if you want to talk to me...come to the Institute. I'm kind of busy right now."

"Tomorrow?" Lance touched my arm as I started to turn away. "After lunch sometime?"

"Yea, that's fine." I nodded. "I'll be waiting for you. I'm eager to hear what you have to say to me." I pulled Logan away.

"What was that about?" Logan asked, tossing a look over his shoulder at the retreating Lance Hang.

"Nothing...we stopped talking after that homecoming game when he got hurt... It's no big deal." I shrugged. "I see Rogue and Kurt at the cotton candy stand."

Logan pulled me to a stop, twirling me around to face him. "You'd tell me if he was giving you problems, right darlin'?"

"Of course, Logan." I smiled. "You're the first to know everything." I pressed another kiss to his lips. "Now c'mon, you promised me a fun filled night...let the fun begin."

Later that night I nestled up against Logan's chest, his fingers stroking the skin between my wings, my tail laying restful (for once) along one of my thighs. The room was dark, and the curtains billowed in the last of the cool summer breeze.

"School starts up again soon." Logan noted, moving to brush a lock of hair out of my face. "The last of he students arrive next week, some of which will be integrated back into Bayville High."

"I know." I nodded. "It's hard to believe that August is already more then half through."

Logan was quiet for a few moments, then spoke again. "So, are you going to talk to Lance tomorrow when he shows up? Or are you going to send him on his merry way?"

I smiled softly against Logan's chest, "I'll talk to him... I've missed him, Logan. I know that sounds odd, especially after the things he said to me, but... he was my friend once."

Logan nodded, "Well...lets get some sleep, okay? It's been a long day." He placed a kiss against my forehead, and rested back into the pillows.

True to his word, Lance showed up right after lunch, when I was sitting down on the balcony in the library, looking over some papers for my students. He leaned in the doorway to the sliding glass door for a moment, before clearing his throat.

I turned, forgetting for a moment that I had the image inducer on, startled, "Lance! You scared me. How long have you been standing there?"

"Not to long." He shrugged. "Can I sit down?"

"Sure." I nodded, beckoning him into a chair. "Have a seat."

Lance took his time sitting down, getting comfortable, "So...what have you been up to? You disappeared after Christmas...I couldn't help but feel as though I might have had something to do with it."

I laughed, "You always were kind of full of yourself, Lance. My leaving had nothing to do with you. It was a personal thing."

"Where'd you go? What'd you do? There were a lot of porn rumors."

I smiled softly, "I was in Canada, working."

"When did you get back?"

"February."

Lance whistled, "That was awhile ago..."

"Yea." I nodded. "Since then I've gotten a sort of teaching position here at the Institute, I've been studying for my GED, and hopefully I'll get into Bayville University next summer."

"You've been busy."

"So have you. I heard you told your parents about your power...and you moved out west with your brother."

Lance nodded, "Yea. My parents weren't surprised. They seem to be...okay. They're starting to accept that it's something my brother and I can't control... we're all on speaking terms again, but I'm not staying with them this summer. I think that hurts them a little."

I nodded. "I know my parents weren't exactly thrilled when I didn't want to come home after I started contact with them again."

"So...tell me, Jo. What's it like to be shot?"

"It hurts like hell, but I lived. Thanks to a combination of different powers, and a good doctor."

"What did you mean last night...when you said I wasn't seeing the real you? You look real enough."

I sighed, and shook my head. "You don't want to see that, Lance. Just accept that what you see isn't always what you're really looking at."

"What? Are you horribly disfigured under some mutanic cloak?"

"It's an image inducer, like the one Kurt has. It allows me to go out in public again. There was a couple of days...I hated myself. I'm growing to accept my changes though."

"When why won't you let me see you, Jo?" Lance asked. "I've always been your friend. I took your advice, listened to you... let me repay the favor."

"This isn't like that, Lance." I shook my head, standing up, and going over to the balcony to look down over the grounds. "Since I first got my powers, I've been able to hide among regular people. I've had control, I've had...a regular appearance... I was shot in the back of the head, Lance. It should have killed me. Instead, it unlocked a different part of my mutation. I don't have control anymore, I don't even seem to have some of my old powers anymore...otherwise I'd get rid of all of it. Until I can find a way to lock it again...I'm a combination of a lot of different things...people...physical mutations."

"Like what?"

My hand covered the image inducer on my wrist, pausing for a moment, before I clicked the button. The image wavered, and fell away. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath, turning to face Lance.

His eyes crinkled in confusion, his face showing a deep concern. "Who did this to you, Jo?"

"We don't know." I shrugged.

"Where did all of this come from?" He stood, touching the edge of one feathered wing.

"The wings are gift from Warren, the tail is part Kurt, part John -he's one of my students... The blue skin is part Kurt, part Mystique, I think, and the mask is John." I ran a finger under my eyes, along the line of the tan skin. "Oh, and least we forget Logan's bit in all of this." I raised my hand and released the claws that itched to be released from my above my knuckles. I bit my lip for a moment, and shook my head.

"And you can't just...morph it?"

"I don't have an active morphing power anymore, Lance. I can't control it. I can't control anything for long periods of time. Things can turn on and shut off when I least expect..." I retracted the claws. "I've already burned holes into walls, and had to listen to the innermost thoughts of everyone... It's like everything is amplified, and there's nothing I can do to stop it."

Lance touched my shoulder in what he probably thought was a comforting manner. We stood at the railing of the balcony in silence for a few minutes.

"Last night...you said Logan was your fiancé..."

I smiled, nodding, "He proposed on my birthday. We haven't told my parents yet. Only my friends at the institute know."

"And even with all of...this...it's still on?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "Why is it that all of the men in my life think that Logan is some kind of shallow jerk?"

"That isn't what I meant at all, Jo. I...I don't know what I meant... I mean... is he being righteous or does he truly see the real you beneath this facade?"

"He loves me, Lance." I turned on him, feeling the back of my eyes boiling. "You better duck."

"What?" Lance asked, turning around. I squeezed my eyes shut, but couldn't stop the red lasers from creating a pit in the lawn under the balcony as I turned away. Lance leaned over the balcony after the banks of red had cleared from my eyes, and I sat back down on the chair, rubbing my eyelids.

"What the hell was that?"

"I told you, I can't control any of the powers I've absorbed anymore. The cells in my brain that held the control were destroyed when I was shot. If I ever regain the control, it could be a very long time, if ever. Sometimes other cells will take over the burden of those that have been destroyed, but...for that to happen for me..." I shook my head. "Maybe you better go? One often follows the next, and I'm not sure I want to hear your thoughts today. Even you can't keep me out, Lance."

"Are you kicking me out?" Lance asked.

"No, I'm asking you to leave. You don't have to, but I really do have some things I need to do before school starts again."

"Can I see you again? Before I leave for the fall semester?"

"You know you're welcome here, Lance...wither I want you here or not." I shrugged, standing. "It was good to see you, Lance. I've missed you." I took a moment to hug him, before gathering my papers and leaving him on the balcony.

Later that afternoon, I sat on the examination table, looking at x-rays with Dr. McCoy.

"This is amazing, Joanna... brain cells never regenerate... there should be no hope of these cells being replaced, and yet... there you are." He used a laser pointer to point out the large area that was previous black was now beginning to look as though nothing had happened."

"Does that mean that this might all go away?"

"Some of it...the wings, and the tail...I'm not sure what to tell you about the claws, Joanna." Dr. McCoy turned off the projector, and turned to look at me. "They are a part of your bone structure... And it is possible that the cells will never completely regenerate...just enough to...stabilize the pigments in your skin, and shrink the wings and tail, possibly."

"And will I regain control of my other powers?"

"Some of them...maybe not all of them."

I nodded, "I understand, Dr. McCoy. Thank you."

"Anytime, Joanna... I think we should plan to check on this all again, if you notice and chances in your appearance...starting with the pigments in your skin, as that was what was first to appear."

"I'll do that, Dr. McCoy." I stood up. "See you at dinner."

"Of course, Jo." He nodded me out of the infirmary, and I exited into the hallway, where Logan was loitering.

"Hey, Logan." I smiled, pressing a kiss to his lips for a moment, before giving him a scrutinizing look. "What's the matter?"

Logan shoved his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his heels, "There's a problem with the house...I need to go up north for a couple of days."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing that I want to worry you with...I won't be gone long."

"You promise?" I asked, coaxing him with a pout.

"I promise." He nodded. "Three days, tops."

"Alright." I nodded. "When are you leaving?"

"Tonight..." I pouted at him again. "Don't be like that, Jo. I have to...if I leave in the next hour, I can be there early tomorrow before the crew gets there."

"Alright." I sighed. "Do what you have to do...and call me when you get there so I know you're okay."

"I will." He assured me, pressing a kiss to my lips. "I'll see you in a few days."


	8. Chapter 8

1Chapter Eight

_No POV_

Logan's jeep parked noisily in front of the Howlette mansion very early the following morning, just as the sun was about to rise. He stretched his arms out above his head, and then fished into the pocket of his jacket for the tiny cellular phone.

A sleep voice answered the phone after a few rings, "Xavier Institute -at five thirty in the morning..."

"Hi Kurt, sorry to wake you. I was hoping for Joanna. Could you get her for me?"

"Just a bamph away my friend...hold on." The phone crackled for a moment, and Logan heard some talk on the other send before Joanna's voice greeted him.

"Hey, Logan."

"Good morning, Sunshine." Logan's lips curved in a smirk.

" Are you at the house?"

"Yea, I just got here...wanted to let you know that I was all right."

"Good. Go get some sleep then, before the work crew arrives."

"I will." Logan nodded. "And I'll call you tonight, and let you know how everything is going, okay?"

"Alright. Talk to you tonight then." Joanna yawned. "Love you."

"I love you too, Jo."

Logan hung up, and tapped the phone against his lips for a moment, thinking, before swinging open the door of the jeep to make the trek into the house.

The couch was comfortable enough for an hour or two of sleep, and Logan kipped down, tossing an army blanket over himself and closing his eyes.

"Jo, this stuff is going to take a little longer then I first thought." Logan was leaning against one of the remodling crew's trucks, the cell phone tucked against his ear. "I don't think these guys have ever done a project this..."

"Huge? Yea, your manor needs a lot of work...you should have warned them, hon." Joanna sighed. "It's OK. Do you want some of us to come down and help?"

"No, no...I think we've got it covered up here...I'll help 'em out, and hopefully I'll be out of here by next Saturday."

"Are you sure you don't want some help?"

"No, and I don't want you away from the institute...that bastard who shot you is still out there someplace..."

"I know, Logan. I know. I'll be fine...I'm staying inside, and running my students through Danger Room exercises with help from Remy, and Rogue."

"Good." Logan nodded. "So, how is everything then? Are you feeling alright? Any changes?"

"No...I had a problem this morning...I swear I could hear people across town... But it didn't last very long, and I actually teleported down to breakfast this morning."

"Well, don't strain yourself, okay?" He looked up, observing the crew that was working on the roofing, and then over at the bunch working on replacing, and restoring the brick in the walls. "I think I'd better go put in a helping hand. I'll see you soon."

"Alright. Have a good day...don't...get to bossy with the crews."

"I won't." He smiled, and hung up on her, just as the foreman of the entire operation, Sigmund Briar approached him.

"Well, Mr. Logan... I think everything is coming along nicely, now that we've got a plumber in to take care of those pipes...and the electrician to take care of the faulty wiring throughout the house. You're sure that you afford all of this work?"

"I'm positive." Logan nodded. "How are they coming on the roof?"

"Pretty well, we'll be finished with the main roof by tonight, and tomorrow we'll start on the sub-roofing, over the tower, and the upstairs library." Briar looked over his clipboard of notes. "The bricking crew is almost complete with their work as well. You've invested in a fine piece of real estate, Mr. Logan."

"Thanks. I rather liked it, myself."

"Now, since the outside is almost complete, perhaps it time to start thinking about the inside. These are the plans we talked about the last time you were up," Briar handed him a few sheets of paper, and then opened up a blueprint of the house on the open tailgate, leaping into typical shop talk. "Is that what you still wanted?"

"Yea." Logan nodded. "Essential repairs, and my fiancé and I will worry about everything else later."

"Very good." Briar nodded. "The entire project will probably go into the winter, but should be done by Christmas."

"Good, good." Logan nodded. "Now, where can I help?"

Joanna yawned, leaning back in her chair in the control booth of the Danger room. Rogue was at her side, still working diligently, "It's late, Rogue. I think I'm going to bed."

"Alright. I'll finish this up." Rogue glanced over at her. "You okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine. I'm just worried about Logan, I guess." She shrugged.

"Look, we both know that Logan can do more then take care of himself."

"I know." Joanna pushed her self up and out of the chair. "I just feel better when I can see him, and know what he's really doing."

"Don't worry, Jo. He's fine. He's probably ripping up carpeting or something, worrying about you, and trying to keep his hands busy."

"You're probably right, Rogue. I'm going to go to bed, okay?"

"Alright. G'night...I'll try not to come in to late."

Joanna was just about to turn into her bedroom when her cell phone vibrated against her thigh, and she paused to remove it from her pocket.

"Joanna Darius." She started firmly upon answering.

"Hey Jo." Logan's voice was a relief.

"Hey, how's it going? I didn't expect to hear from you for awhile longer."

"I miss you. It's lonely."

Joanna smiled, closing the door to her bedroom behind her. "Well, I was just getting ready for bed...it's interesting not to have the option of sleeping next to you."

Logan laughed softly, "I've been thinking, Jo...if we're serious, about this marriage thing...maybe it's time that you moved out of your and Rogue's room. I mean...you spend most of your time with me anyway...and I'm sure Rogue wouldn't mind having the extra space."

_Joanna's POV_

I bit my lip, sitting on the edge of my bed, kicking off my shoes. "Oh, gosh Logan. I don't know. Of course, obviously I would eventually...but already? It kind of seems like I'm ditching her...like I'm losing something."

"It's just something to think about, Jo."

I nodded. "So, anything special going on?"

"No, not really. The Crew and I accomplished a lot today. It was good to be working with my hands on something like this, again."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Logan."

"What about you?" He asked. "You do anything exciting today?"

"Not really. Just normal institute-stuff."

Logan was quiet for a second before his voice lowered to a soft, sexy sort of growl, "What are you doing right now?"

I smiled, biting my lip, "Getting ready for bed."

"Mm... what are you wearing?"

"At the moment, my street clothes, but I was thinking of putting on that black tank, the one with the really low neckline that you like, and that pair of short-shorts that I only wear to bed."

"Because wearing them in public would probably be illegal?"

"That's the pair."

"I bet you'll look real sexy."

I laughed out loud, "Logan, knock it off...go to bed. You don't know what you're saying."

"Hey, I'm just trying to broaden our horizons -why do you think I called your cell rather then the land line?"

"Oh, Logan... if only you knew how much I really loved you."

"If you loved me, you'd play along with me..." He tried to coax me into his little phone-sex scheme.

"Nothing beats the real thing, hon."

He snorted, "You don't have to tell me that."

"I'm going to get ready for bed now... Dream about me?"

"I always do, sweetheart. I always do." I heard him click the phone off, and I smiled to myself, hanging up as well, and setting the phone on the side table as I moved to

The next morning, I participated in my first Danger Room exercise in over a year. We ran Logan-Joanna Lesson 1, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, Cyclops, Jean, Nightcrawler, and I. It was weird, being back on the shifting floor, in my adaptable uniform.

My powers were slowly starting to come back under my control, and I could notice the blue tints across my skin beginning to change color, and the mask across my face becoming a lighter shade. The wings and tail were beginning to shrink all together. I had fewer of the uncontrollable fits, hearing the amplified voices in my head, plasma beams shooting from my eyes, inadvertently dumping a foot of snow over the Institute...

I went to see Dr. McCoy after the Danger Room exercise, and he ran another head scan, comparing it to the old x-ray, pointing out the noticeable repair in the damaged areas.

"If you continue healing at this kind of a rate, Joanna...I'd say that the skin tones will be gone within the next few weeks, and the wings and tail by Thanksgiving."

"That's when Logan wanted us to go up to the Manor... after Thanksgiving."

"By then you should probably be able to be in public places without the experiment inducer." Dr. McCoy shrugged, turning to look at the x-rays again. "It's amazing, Joanna... This completely baffles me...any other person, and I might call it some kind of a miracle."

"Will I need to see you again soon, Doc?"

"No...no...come back after the tones are completely gone... We'll look at how much longer until everything else has disappeared too, alright?"

"Alright. Thanks Dr. McCoy."

I went to bed that night as I would have any typical night, thoughts of Logan drifting through my head, plans for our wedding ever looming in my mind... I had no idea what I would wake up to the next morning.

It was surreal, and for a few minutes I thought I was dreaming...but I wasn't. I was chained inside of a liquid-filled tube, breathing through some kind of mask. The images my eyes were sending to my brain were cloudy, but I could make out a laboratory of some kind -a 'doctor' I didn't recognize was talking into some kind of microphone...and then the needles stabbed into me.

That is when I knew that it wasn't a dream -it was painful...needles, stabbing into my skin, grating against the bone, injecting a material against them, coating them. I screamed silent fury when they were removed, tearing out of my skin.

"That's it, Sundry. Let it out." The calm voice mocked me from outside of the tank, the unfamiliar face looming closer. "Technology has come so far since we last tested this experiment, but I doubt we'll ever be able to subdue the wrenching pain."

"Where the hell am I?" I asked.

"You're in the previous Weapon X lab, the new Eternity Project Lab." The man told me. "I believe our facility may look familiar to you, if you take a closer look..."

I glanced around as the liquid began to drain from the tube, allowing me a better look around. "You...You're the ones who laced Logan's body with adamantium.."

"Oh, now...you say that as if it were a bad thing..." The balding man made a pouting face. "Is he not better because of his indistructive skeleton?"

"How did I get here?" I ignored the question.

"Why, we stole you away in the night, of course... Quicksilver here, is very fast on his feet... Broke into the Xavier Institute, and got out quicker then the alarms sensor could function.. No one will know that you are missing until morning."

"What did you do to me?"

"The same thing we did to your...what is he now? Fiancé?"

"You animals..."

"No! You are the animal... Freaks of nature, who need to be tested, observed, put through trials to test your resistance..."

I gritted my teeth, unleashing my itching claws, the new adamantium tearing through my skin, but I barely noticed. The glass shattered away, and I stepped out of the tubing, ready to draw some blood, namely the unnamed Doctor's.

Quicksilver was at my side in a moment, grabbing me from behind, whispering in my ear, "You _don't_ want to do that... Just play along for awhile, okay?"

"Are you crazy?" I hissed at him, as the Doctor meandered away, off to check on his next 'patient'.

"Look, there are a lot of us here, and when there are enough of us, we'll get out...but I'm not going to have _you_ go all gung-ho, and fuck it up, alright?" Quicksilver ran a hand through his hair. "Getting out of here is a lot harder then it would seem."

"Can I at least get some decent clothes?" I requested, motioning at my bare essential coverings.

"Of course, follow me." Quicksilver nodded, leading me out of the testing room and into a storage closet of sorts, grey sweat suits with a sideways eight, infinity, emblem on the sleeves of the zip-up sweatshirt. "You can put this on, for now." He handed me a set from a middle shelf.

"Thanks...I think." I pulled the pants on, tightening the strings around my hips, and then put on the sweatshirt on over my shoulders, zipping it up.

"We're free to roam the compound, but if you take one unauthorized step, the security in here amplifies three-fold." Quicksilver whispered, pulling me down the hall. "You'll be fitted for a collar like this," He pulled at the metallic collar around this throat, "this afternoon. There are sensors all over the compound that monitor our whereabouts at all times. Now do you see why we haven't broken out on our own yet?"

"How many are there?" I asked.

"Mutants, or men like Trask?"

"Both."

"There are about twenty mutants, including all of us from the Brotherhood, excluding my father." Quicksilver pushed in an access code, the door in front of us sliding open noisily. "There are about a hundred men working for Trask, divided into three shifts. We've been watching them closely...the weakest shift is at night."

"Tonight?"

"No, then it would seem like we were waiting for you to help...we can't make them think that you are stronger then they think...that you have a reputation among us."

"Don't I?"

"...You do." He nodded, with a slight smile. "But they don't know that."

_No POV (Back at the Institute)_

"What do you mean she's gone?" Logan's voice was a low growl as Rogue tried to explain the situation to him over the phone.

"I don't know what happened Logan. We thought she had just gone out for a morning jog or something, to...get back in shape, but...she's been gone a really long time. We're starting to get worried."

"I'll get back as soon as I can. Have the professor do whatever it takes to track her down with Cerebro and call me back when you've got _good_ news for me. I'll worry about the bad on my own."

"Alright Logan. We'll try." Rogue hung up the phone with a heavy hand before making the stroll down to the Cerebro room, where Jean Grey was standing behind the Professor's chair, her hand on his shoulder.

"Do you think she left on her own?"

"No, I don't Jean, but I don't see how our security was breached." He pondered. "Jean, why don't you and Kurt watch last night's security tapes again. I'll search for her on Cerebro -hopefully she, or someone else, isn't blocking my physic connection with her."

"Logan said he would be back as soon as possible." Rogue knelt down by the side of the Professor's chair. "What can I do Professor? I want to help."

"I know you do, Rogue." He patted her gloved hand. "Why don't you help out by subbing for Joanna's classes today? We must remember to keep everything as normal as possible, even in these tense and confusing times."

"Alright Professor. I'll try." She nodded.

It was many hours later, and there were no fruits to be found in the labor that the entire staff of the Xavier Institute had produced. Jean and Kurt had gone over the security tapes dozens of times, the Professor had nearly worn himself out in his search for some sign of Joanna, and Rogue, though trying her best not to, fretted relentlessly.

"Let's have one more go at these tapes, mmm? She could not have simply disappeared into thin air." Kurt sighed. "Why don't we watch it frame by frame this go, hm?"

"Who do we know that could move that fast, Kurt?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow, "I think that you have just answered your own question, Jean."

Jean raised an eyebrow, tilting her head, "What?"

"Our good friend Pietro... Quicksilver. Faster then a speeding bullet." Kurt fast forwarded the tape, pausing and playing, pausing and playing until they caught it -the faintest glimpse of who had stolen Joanna away. A few frames more, and they saw the return trip, Joanna out like a light in Quicksilver's arms, whisked away in the dead of night.

Jean was deep in thought, conversing with the Professor, who arrived in the room a few moments later.

"Quicksilver, hm?" The Professor looked at the screens. "He's been missing in action for quite some time. No one has seen hide-nor-hair of him in months. He was thought to have been captured -but by whom, no one knew."

"Then he must be taking orders from someone." Kurt speculated, "Perhaps the same person that shot Joanna on her birthday?"

"Perhaps, Kurt... Although that could have just as easily been an accident, and this is someone different. It all feels so strange."

"Maybe you should try looking for Quicksilver, Professor? Joanna still doesn't have complete control over her powers, and could be inadvertently blocking your search."

"I'll try. Jean, find Rogue and ask her to call Logan with the news."

"Will do, Professor." Jean nodded, as Professor Xavier rolled from the room.

"What do you mean Quicksilver kidnapped Joanna? That doesn't make any sense!" Logan was half way back to the manor by the time that Jean placed her call. "No one has seen him in months! What is he doing?"

"We don't know that much yet, Logan, but the Professor is searching for him now, instead of Joanna. We're sure, where she is, that...she's fine. She can protect herself."

"I don't know, Jean...It's been awhile since she's done any training, and...lets face it, since her accident, she doesn't have much control over anything."

"She knows what she's doing, Logan. And Dr. McCoy says that she's making a lot of improvements. The Wings and Tail are going to be gone soon, the markings are completely gone. She's healing very well. It's only a matter of time."

Logan thought for a moment, "If she's healing, that means...my claws are going away too."

"Well, I would imagine so." Jean sounded confused.

"Who would want to make sure that some things don't change? Who needs a new guinea pig?"

"Boliviar Trask?"

"The one and the same, darling. I'd bet money he's looking to perfect some of his damn techniques. We've got to find her. It may be to late, and she's already had the infusion of metal, but she's still being held captive."

Meanwhile, Joanna was being fitted for a tracing collar in one of the underground labs in at the compound that Trask was calling home.

"It's a little tight...I can't breath."

"Good." The technician didn't seem to care a whole lot for her comfort.

"So, what do these things do again?" She asked.

"They track your movement throughout the compound, and outside of it. You try to take it off, it sends an electrical shock through your entire body, large enough to put out a bull elephant."

"Oh? Really?" Joanna unleashed her new claws, sliding the cleanly under the collar, "What's a little pain?" She ripped through the collar in a shatter of sparks and metal. "You're a real moron, you know that? Powerful enough to put out a bull elephant? Are you kidding me with that?"

"You bitch!" The technician swore, "Do you know how much a piece of equipment like that costs?"

"Maybe your boss should have thought about expenses before he gave me this." She waved the claws in his face. "You can fit me with another one, I'm serious about it not being to tight this time... I'll play a good little girl, but in exchange, I expect to not get any problems from peons like you... I'm a hell of a lot more powerful then you all know. You may think I'm still damaged from the little stunt you all pulled back in July, but I'm still healing...slowly but surely."

The technician nodded, "Alright fine. How loose would you like it?"

"Loose enough I can't get it over my head and make you look bad." She taunted.

The man nodded again, picking up another collar, letting it click around her neck, settling it around the base of her neck, "How's that?"

"Perfect." She nodded. "Thank you." She got up from the chair, and let her claws slide back into her hand.

"You can go back to your cell -room, now then."

"You don't tell me what to do... These will cut through more then metal. I've seen the best ones at work." Sundry gave him a small grin before walking out of the lab.

Quicksilver was waiting for her outside of the door, "You really shouldn't taunt them, you know."

"Why not? It's so damn easy."

"Because...if they catch on about our plan...it could get a lot of us in trouble."

"Pietro...why are we still here? I could break the two of us out of here right now, we could go get help, and come back for the others. I've got your speed now... Granted, I haven't had much practice with it, and I'm a still a little wonky when it comes to controlling powers, but...we could do it."

"I know we could...it just...it doesn't seem fair to leave the rest of them. What if we didn't make it back?"

"You realize the X-Men are probably looking for me already?"

"I know. Hopefully they'll get here in time to help us. I'm sure they've found where we are by now... It's only a matter of time. Trask doesn't realize what a can of worms he has really opened here."

"Well, he'll soon find out, Pietro. He'll soon find out."

Logan stood in the map room of the Institute, the other members of the X-Men gathered around the table where he was pointing out the location of Trask's last laboratory.

"I'm pretty sure that this is where he is. It's the only place I can think of that he'd have the right equipment, and is far enough away from a community that I can think of."

"It's worth a try." The Professor nodded. "Alright my X-Men... Suit up, and board the Blackbird. We'll leave in ten minutes."

Joanna sat on the uncomfortable cot, having been placed in a solitary cell in the farthest corner of the corridor. Quicksilver was placed in the cell across from hers, the doors locked up tight for the night.

"This is so stupid, Pietro." She sighed.

"Just relax, Joanna. We aren't going to do anything until your friends get here, remember? And when they do, we'll bust into action, alright?"

Joanna sighed. "Right...right."

"It shouldn't be a whole lot longer now, I promise."

"You said that an hour ago."

"Did I? I guess I did."

Joanna sighed, "I hate feeling useless...I'm itching to go. I haven't had a decent fight since...well, the night I left the X-Men over a year ago now."

"I remember the fight...you and my father reached a stalemate, I believe. You gave this little speil about us all being pointless."

"Well, it's true! None of you were fighting for anything!"

"I was fighting for my father." Pietro sighed. "When he was gone, before Mystique broke him out of that prison Professor Xavier put him into... we had no direction. Magneto gives us direction, something to hope for."

"And what is that?"

"A time of peace...when mutants don't have to hide. A time when Homo Superior can rule, like we meant to."

"Maybe we were meant to rule along side of homo sapien. Have you ever thought of that?"

"Have you ever thought that a human would make a nice pet? That's what I'm going to do with Trask when the time comes for us to rise about all of this...filth. I'm going to make very human I find into faithful little dogs, that will-"

"Pietro! Stop! You don't mean it!"

He sighed, "No. I don't. But I still hate them."

"You don't hate all of them."

"Most of them. They spend so much time-."

"Shh." Joanna put a finger against her lips, crawling down off of her cot, to the bars, peering down the hall. "I just heard something."

"What?" Pietro made a similar movement towards the bars of his cell. "Do you think it's them?"

"No...it can't be...well...it could be...but...not if Logan is with them... He's more of a berserker-get-the-job-done sort of guy."

There was a cloud of dust and the smell of brimstone filled the air.

"Kurt!" Joanna coughed, standing. "Kurt, where is everyone else?"

"We had a little trouble upstairs...they're coming, I promise." Kurt began to fiddle with a lock pick on her cell.

"Kurt...allow me." Joanna stopped him, unleashing a claw, to slice through the bars, before crawling through the bars.

"I take it we're a little late, huh?"

"No hard feelings, Kurt." She hugged him. "Besides, I kind of like them. They really make Logan and I pair, don't they?" She smiled, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "You and Pietro," she clawed through the lock on his door, letting the door swing open, "go up and help the others...I'll unlock all of these doors."

"You sure? I can help." Pietro offered.

"No...go. Make sure no one gets down here to disrupt me." She moved down the hall, slicing open the locks, letting the doors swing open on their hinges.

"Is she always this bossy?" Pietro asked, as he and Kurt bamped back to the upper level of the compound.

"Well...she hasn't since July...It's nice to see that she's back." Kurt shrugged with a smile.

It didn't take Joanna very long to release the other captives, and led them upstairs where the fight was still hot and heavy.

"Follow me...there will be room for everyone on the Blackbird." Joanna lead them around the fight, through a side door. "Follow the tunnel." She directed them, making sure that they were all out of the compound before going back to join in the fight.

"Hey honey." Logan had one of Trask's peons pinned up against a glass tank. He paused long enough to press a short kiss to her lips. "You alright?"

"I'm just fine..." She shrugged. "Go easy on him...he was right nice to me for a time." She smiled at him before turning away from the blood splatter that emerged from the man's nose as Logan broke it.

"What did you do with the others?" Logan asked, jogging along with her towards the exit, the others close behind.

"Directed them towards the Blackbird."

"Good. Kitty and Charles are still on board. They'll take care of the others."

Once everyone was onboard the Blackbird, Storm and Jean set the plane into lift off, and Logan settled into the seat next to her. She yawned, leaning against his shoulder, feeling secure next to him again.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Logan asked, clasping his hand over hers, his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm fine." She shrugged. "Tired...but fine."

Logan grunted, and pressed another kiss to her lips, "You gonna tell me what he did to you, or let me find out later?"

"I think we both already know, Logan." She sighed. "Can we not talk about this right now...in front of everyone?"

"Sure, darlin'. Sure."

Once back at the institute, Kitty, Jean, Professor Xavier, and Scott helped to get the newcomers settled in for the night, offering rooms to each of them, and Logan and Joanna retired back to his room where they got comfortable on his bed, Joanna straddling his hips, sitting back against his bent knees.

"What is this you're wearing?" Logan asked, brushing a lock of hair back behind Joanna's ear, then tugging at the sweat suit. "Grey is not your color, darlin'."

Joanna shrugged, "I don't know...it's what Pietro gave me to wear after I broke out of that containment tube." She looked down at it. "It's not half bad...I sort of like it, in a way."

"Lets get this damn collar off of you, hm? I think we got everyone elses but yours...they could still be tracking them." Logan started to move to unleash his claws, and she stopped him.

"I can it." She sighed, letting the metallic claws slide out from her knuckles.

"Darlin'..." Logan whispered, as the bits of collar fell down against his chest.

"They're not so bad..." She shrugged, pulling them back into her fist. "Besides the fact that I weight a hundred pounds more then I did two days ago doesn't really help, but..." she shrugged.

Logan hissed between his teeth, pulling her down for another kiss. "I suppose it's just another way we're perfect for each other, hm?"

"I like to think about it that way." She smiled.

Logan grunted again, pulling her down beside him, and turning over onto his side, brushing the pieces of the tracking collar to the floor. "Well, I think we've both had enough excitement for awhile... how about some sleep?"

"Sounds good to me, Logan."


	9. Chapter 9

1A/N: This, and the third part (even though this isn't finished yet), are now exclusively posted at my Yahoo!Group, which you must be 18 to join (but heck, I won't tell on you) as my story Dark Little Town is also posted there due to regulations at this site, and others. I hope you join, and help support this story and others! (Here's a link to my Yahoo!Group: http/groups. next morning, Joanna woke up to an empty bed, and a noisy school. She looked around, pulling on clothes before looking out into the hall.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked, leaning groggily in the doorway, drowning in Logan's bathrobe. "Some people are trying to sleep here!"

"The people we rescued last night...some of them are freaking out." Rogue grabbed her by the sleeve of the robe. "You've got to try and help Professor Xavier and Jean calm them down!"

"I...I can try. You know my powers are still kind of wonky." She was almost mentally pushed back out of the cafeteria where the riot was taking place. "Whoa. The hostility is off the roof!"

"Exactly!"

Joanna closed her eyes in concentration, trying to find all of the newcomers, trying to send them into a relaxing place. After a few minutes, she felt the Professor touch her arm.

"I think that's enough, Joanna. Thank you." He turned away, addressing those still dressed in the Infinity Project Uniforms. "You are all perfectly safe here... If you would all follow me downstairs, I'll explain a little more about our facilities... All of you are welcome to stay here, or we can arrange transportation for you to get back to your homes, and families after my little...spiel."

"Coffee?" Logan was at her shoulder, holding a Styrofoam cup. "French Vanilla flavored creamer, just the way you like it, hon."

"Thanks." She yawned, taking the cup. "I would have liked to sleep just a little longer...but I guess today isn't the day for that, hm?"

"I guess not." Logan pressed a kiss to her forehead. "And you're gonna be mad, but I've got leave again... I only came back because you were missing."

"Aw, do you have to?" She asked, pouting, putting an arm around his waist. "Why can't you just stay here, hm? Isn't this why you hired a crew to do all of the work? So you could be here...spending time with me?" She tried to lay a guilt trip on him, but Logan just smiled.

"You know I'd rather be with anywhere with you then anywhere without you..."

She sighed, "I wish I could go with...but I can't. Damn it." She sighed. "When are you leaving?"

"As soon as you let go of me." Logan coaxed.

Joanna groaned, "Then I guess I'll just have to latch on for awhile, huh? ...You smell really good... New soap?"

"No, but nice try." He pressed a kiss to her lips this time. "Come on, let me get going..."

"Just a few more minutes, huh?" She sipped at her coffee, looping her fingers into his belt loops.

"The sooner you let me go, the sooner I can be back here...and we spend all the time together you want."

"Doing _whatever_ I want?"

"Sure, darlin'. If that's what it takes to make you let go...even though I really kinda like your hands just where they are."

Joanna smiled, "Alright, fine. You can go... but call me tonight, alright? When you get up there."

"I will, honey." He nodded, pressing a last kiss to her lips, unlatching her fingers from his belt loops and placing them at her sides. "Go on, take a hot shower, and have a nice day. I'll call you tonight."

"Okay. I'll try." She let him pull away, her fingers sliding along his as he went through the doorway.

"It's hard watching him leave all of the time, isn't it, sugar?" Rogue asked, putting an arm over Joanna's shoulder.

I shrugged, "I know it's for a good reason...and besides...it's not like he isn't coming back relatively soon."

Rogue nodded, "Come on, Logan and I thought we should have a talk...about you moving out of our room?"

_Logan's POV_

"Logan...I don't want to move in if you're not here...what if I rearranged the whole thing and you came home, and you were like all-"

"Jo...sweetheart...relax. Do whatever you want." I was tired, already kipped out on the sofa in the living room, my eyes half closed in sleep, Joanna's chipper voice half relaxing, half annoying. "If I come home and don't like it...well, we'll change it then. Make yourself comfortable. I made space in my closet for you, which basically gives you the whole thing," I smiled, knowing how much Joanna valued a decent closet. "And I cleared all of shelf space for all of those knickknack things I know you like...and you can move in your dresser for all of your other stuff...and just...don't take over the bathroom _too much_."

"I try not to." I hard the smile on her voice, and I yawned, shifting on the couch. "Oh, I'm sorry Logan...you're probably tired, huh? I'll let you go to bed."

"No, no...talk, baby. I'll try not to fall asleep." I coaxed. "I like just listening to you. Even if I'm not comprehending a word you say."

She laughed, "Oh thanks Logan. I'm glad words aren't being wasted."

"Never." I shook my head against the pillow placed against the arm of the couch. "So, what did you guy's do today?"

"Did some transport of the refugees from the Infinity Project, then Pietro and I played a little power-free tennis with Jubilee and Remy, and Rogue and I talked...a lot. It was nice. We haven't just _talked_ in a really long time."

"Hmm." I agreed.

"Logan...this is silly. Go sleep. Call me tomorrow, when you're conscious."

I sighed, "Alright, fine. G'night."

"Good night. I love you."

"I love you too." I waited for the click of her disconnecting the call first before I flipped the phone closed, and let it slid through my fingers to the floor.

My dreams that night were odd. Like memories I had long ago suppressed, or lost in amnesia. Things from a troubled childhood, a pretty young girl taking care of a younger me, a lunatic mother, a cruel grandfather, and a strange young boy who reminded me a lot of myself, and some other less then savory characters I could think of. What startled me most about the dreams was how fast they progressed. Bouncing me from being a sickly seven year old, to a frightened ten year old with bone claws, to an eighteen year old working in a mine shaft, getting into fights...to falling in love, and then losing her.

I woke with a start the next morning, a hand on my shoulder. My first instinct was to release my claws, but I resisted when I realized where I was, and who was waking me up.

"Sorry Mr. Logan... didn't mean to scare you... Thought we'd wake you up before we started in with all of the noise... let you get oriented first." It was Briar, looking a little smug.

"Oh...right. Thanks." I sat up.

"Sounds like you were having quite the dream...something racy?" He raised his eyebrows a few times, and I turned giving him a quizzical look, before shaking my head.

"Naw...just some old memories being dredged up, I guess. I don't suppose anyone's made a pot of coffee yet, huh?"

"Well you are just in luck, 'cause Toby just got back on the first coffee run of the day... I think the little weasel even got donuts."

"Great." I nodded. "I'll be outside in a few minutes...just lemme get dressed, bub."

"Wait...so, you had a dream about your past? Childhood-like past?" Joanna sounded intrigued when I told her about the dream later.

"Yea. Something like that..."

"Well, I can't really tell you how...accurate it is... well, because I haven't seen the dream, and of course, because I haven't gone that far back in your memory...and I'm not going to. But from what I got off of the house when I was there, it sounds like it could have been accurate. Do you remember anything about where the mine was that you were working in, in your dream? Or the name of the Boy perhaps?"

"Naw. Sorry. Nothin' like that."

Joanna sighed, "Well, it's all right. I mean... we'll find out...somehow."

"I ain't that anxious to find out a lot about how I got my humble beginnings, darlin'. I mean...what we know now is more then enough to make me happy. I don't need to know some of that other stuff." I tried to shrug it off.

"Logan...don't be like that. You know you that you want your memories back. I don't understand what's blocking them. They are there...I've seen them. Some of them."

"I know...which is how you've already got me pegged at over a hundred years old."

"And looking damn fine, if I do say so myself, James."

I grunted, "Don't call me that, sweetheart. It sounds dirty."

She laughed, "I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Maybe...if you're wearing that low cut tank, and those Daisy Dukes."

She laughed in my ear again, "You know I am...and I've got your big old bed...all to myself."

"Our bed...not just mine." I corrected her.

"Right." I could just picture her in my head, spread out on the bed, her bare feet pressed against the headboard above the pillows, her hair fanned out against the comforter, smiling as she held the phone to her ear. And of course, with her tail twitching, thumping against the mattress, her wings pressed flat against the bed, framing her.

"I bet you look beautiful."

"Sweet-talker." She teased.

I gave her a short laugh, "I have good news. I should be done here by Saturday. I can let the crew finish up...and they'll be done by Thanksgiving."

"Are you sure? You're not just saying that?"

"Have I ever lied to you before?" I asked.

"No... So I'll see you on Sunday?"

"I'm gonna shoot for late Saturday night... but we'll see how the time takes us, alright?"

"Alright, Logan." She sighed. "Oh crap... Look at the time! I have classes in the morning! How could you keep me talking so long?"

"Hey now, you're the one that called me!"

"I know, I know. I'll talk to you soon. Good night."

"Good night, darlin'" And it was my turn to hang up first.

_No POV_

Joanna seemed to be drowning in Logan's huge bed. Her things may have now hung in his closet, her dresser pushed up against the wall beside his, but it didn't feel like her room. She missed the sound of Rogue breathing across the room, having another body in the room with her. It probably would have been an easier adjustment if Logan had been there...lying beside her.

She sighed, rolling onto her side, hugging the extra pillow to her chest. For some reason, Joanna found herself to be wide awake. It took her awhile to give up on sleep, and instead pull a throw blanket around her shoulders, and make her way downstairs for some late night television.

"You can't sleep either, huh?" Pietro was lounging on the couch, channel surfing.

"No...Logan's bed is to big for just one person." She shrugged, pushing his feet off the end of the couch to sit down, pulling the blanket across her legs. "Anything good on?"

"No. You can look if you want."

"Well...that's very nice of you... Good to know that not all of the guys in this place are remote-hogs."

"Well, I never said I'd let you keep it...but you can take a look at least." Pietro shrugged with a slight smile.

Joanna took the remote, thinking for a moment, "Pietro, what time is it?"

Pietro looked at his watch, "Almost Monday morning. Why?"

I smiled, "Nothing. Just thinking about Logan."

"You really love him, don't you?" He asked, after a few moments of silence.

"Yea...I do." Joanna shrugged.

"Tell me." He straightened up on the couch, putting his arm over the back, inching his feet under her knees. "What's the real Logan like? How'd you meet him? When did you know he was your 'one'?"

Joanna laughed, swatting at his feet. "Stop that, your feet are freezing."

"Tell me. Maybe it will help you sleep...and you'll miss him less while he's gone. Start at the beginning."

She sighed, thinking back, "Well...I guess I met Logan right after the X-Men picked me...the day after Thanksgiving...what? Four years ago? Give or take a year. I've lost track. Anyway, I got a crush on Logan right away. It wasn't a whole lot longer after I got here, that I really met him one-on-one... Right here, actually. On this couch." She patted the arm of the sofa. "Well...maybe not this couch. Rogue said they had remodeled while I was gone... Anyway, he kissed me. I kissed him... whatever way it happened... I was only seventeen. We knew it was wrong, but it didn't seem to stop us any... We tried, for month or so, to stay away from each other... I dated Warren, you know Warren."

"He's the one that gave you these, right?" Pietro leaned forward to tug on one of her wings. "I know the guy...kind of a loner."

"Yea...that's Warren." She shrugged. "I liked him...I mean, I like him. But he has a different appeal. He's more...conservative, stable. You know, what every girl wants in a guy. 'Sept me. I broke it off with him after I kissed Logan, and had a premonition about us. I knew it wasn't right to lead him on when I obviously wanted some other guy so badly."

"Uh huh. So you let Warren down nice and easy, and you hooked back up with Logan."

"Right." Joanna smiled. "But I was still only seventeen. I introduced him to my parents... and they didn't seem to mind that he was obviously so much older then me. They probably still don't realize how _much_ older then me, but I like that they like him. Maybe not so much that my Mom likes him...but that my Dad doesn't hate him."

Pietro smiled, "Your Mom flirts with him?"

"A lot. It's really gotten so bad at times that Logan boycotts anything to do with her. He loathes going into the city to see my family."

Pietro laughed, "I can imagine."

"Anyway...As I was saying... I finally turned eighteen."

"Was it good?" Pietro asked.

"Pietro!"

"What? You can't blame me for asking! I've seen this guy! I want to know."

"When we finally _did_ it was nice..."

"Finally?"

"You're asking a few to many questions, Pietro..."

"I'm just curious, like everyone else." He shrugged.

"We waited...an extra day...maybe it was two? My mother was put into the hospital when Mystique was parading around as my mother on my birthday... I don't think we ever really found out why." She shook her head. "Anyway, after that, I guess the next big thing...was...capturing Magneto... and then...Oh, I believe you might remember when he was released?"

"I have a vague recollection." Pietro nodded. "I'm sorry about that, by the way."

"Uh huh." She nodded. "Anyway, so...I left. For a year. I lived in Canada...and god. I missed everyone so much, and yet, I couldn't bring myself to come back. Then...Logan found me. The look on his face, when he confronted me, asking me where the hell I had been. I knew then that he really loved me, and that I really loved him. When I kissed him, it was like nothing had changed. The year we spent apart was nothing, gone, forgotten, like we had never spent a day apart in our lives. At first I wasn't going to let him bring me back home, but then I thought about everyone else, and I guess I realized how selfish I was, and I came back." She shrugged. "Then I started teaching here, helping Logan find out more about his forgotten past... I spent a month with him in Canada, and he bought his family's old manor. It's a wreak, but...he loves the place. I guess he thinks that the place holds the answers to all of his questions, the questions that he thinks I have, when...I'm happy with him, just the way that he is."

"Are you really? Are you happy with him?"

"I agreed to marry him, didn't I?" She grinned. "I do love him...a lot. Just the way that he is. He's never given me any reasons to doubt him, or not trust him. He's given me a sort of stability that I don't think I could have gotten from any other guy."

"But he has his problems, right?" Pietro asked. "I mean, everyone has their problems."

"Of course. I mean...he does a lot of things that I don't really agree with. He smokes cigars, which I hate, drinks when he thinks I don't know about it, he bought that manor, and as much as I hate to say it...I don't like being there. It feel safe with him, sure, but...the house. It just...it seems so angry. Frightened. But to Logan...to Logan it's home."

Pietro was quiet for a moment, before moving on the couch, sitting next to her, pulling her into his arms, hugging her, "Logan would never let anything, or anyone hurt you."

"I know that." She nodded, pulling out of his grasp, and stretching, "Well, it was nice talking to you, Pietro. I think I'm tired enough to try and go to sleep again. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Joanna." Pietro nodded her off. "Pleasant dreams."

"Thanks. You too." She pulled the throw blanket more tightly around her shoulders, and slunk back off to bed.

"Logan...what don't you like about me?" Joanna asked when they spoke on the phone the next night.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked.

"I mean, what are the little, the nit-picky things about me that you don't like?"

"I love everything about you." Logan said. "I wouldn't have you any other way."

Joanna smiled, "I know that, Logan! But...I must irritate you sometimes. Do something that you think I should do different. Something that you don't agree with."

Logan took a moment, "I don't know, Jo. I don't spend my time analyzing what I like and don't like about you. What don't you like about me?"

"You know what I don't like about you, Logan."

"Is this about the cigar thing? Because I really have cut back on those."

Joanna laughed, " Kind of, and I know you have."

"Don't worry about it Jo. The little things are part of what make you, you. And the cigars and the beer are part of what make me, me."

"So I keep telling myself." Joanna smiled. "Moving on...we should pick a date. Seriously. I mean. Do we want to get married soon, or...later. Or much later?"

"Honey, I told you. It doesn't matter to me. As far as I'm concerned, you're already my wife. I don't need a little piece of paper telling me that."

"That's another thing, Logan. You...you don't have a birth certificate. I mean, you have records, but...you don't even have a last name."

"A lot of people don't have last names." Logan's voice was kind of gruff.

"And I'm fine with that...but...we can't really get a marriage license...with out that kind of stuff."

"Let me worry about that, alright? We're gonna do this nice and legal. I promise."

Joanna nodded, "I trust you."

"Good. Now...go to sleep."

"Your bed is to big to sleep in by myself."

"Who kept you company last night?" Logan asked, a bite of sarcasm in his voice.

Joanna laughed, "Pietro kept me talking until I was tired. He's a good guy."

Logan snorted, "I'm sure he is."

"Don't act so jealous, Logan." Joanna sighed. "I haven't left you yet, and I never will. At least not willingly."

"Good to know, sweetheart." Logan yawned. "I think I'm going to turn in. I'll talk to you soon. "

"Goodnight Logan."

"G'night."

Joanna hung up, and stretched out in bed, trying to hold on to remaining sounds of Logan's voice, echoing in her head as she settled in for the night.

"So, have you and Mr. Logan given any thoughts to your wedding party, Sundry?" Tori was trying to weasel her way out of her lesson, as Joanna reset the danger room exercise.

"Well, Rogue is my maid of honor. Professor Xavier is Logan's best man. Other then that, not really." Joanna shrugged.

"Where are you guys having the wedding?"

"I don't know." Joanna shrugged again.

Tori looked at her, bemused, "Have the two of you put _any_ thought into this wedding yet?"

"Not really. We just started to get into it -with everything that's going on. It'll happen when it happens, Tori."

Tori scoffed, and shook her head, "My Aunt Lucinda planned her wedding for _three years_ before it happened. It was huge!"

"My wedding won't be that big, I assure you." Joanna shook her head. "Small, friends and family only ceremony, with a reception here at the Institute."

"What about the honeymoon?"

"I suppose we'll go to Logan's house in Canada."

Tori scoffed again, "That's no honeymoon! You're supposed to go someplace exotic! Like the Bahamas!"

"Been there, done that. Not that interesting." Joanna shrugged.

"What about Paris? Rome? Hong Kong? Maybe even Tokyo? I thought Logan was into the whole Japan scene."

"Look, can we stop talking about my future honeymoon, and instead work on your control-lesson?" Joanna raised an eyebrow. "I think this is a lot more important to you then you think it is."


	10. Chapter 10

1Chapter Ten

It was early Sunday morning when Logan slid into bed, after letting his clothes drop to the floor of the bedroom, beside Joanna. He groaned softly in her ear, wrapping an arm around her waist, already partially sleeping, just taking deep breaths, smelling the mix of her shampoo and body wash.

"How was your drive?" Joanna asked, sleepily.

"Fine -I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's alright." Joanna put her hand on top of his, resting her head back against his chest. "I was sort of waiting up for you anyway."

"No need to do that." Logan shook his head.

"I wanted to -I missed you."

Logan smiled, moving just enough to press a kiss to her temple. "I missed you too -but we can talk in the morning, alright? I'm beat."

Joanna smiled softly, "Okay. Go to sleep." she patted his hand, and then felt him relax behind her.

Early the next morning Joanna awoke as Logan slid from bed in the wee hours of the breaking dawn.

"What are you doing?" She asked, reaching for him.

"Taking a shower." He leaned down to kiss her softly. "I'd ask you the same, but it's pretty obvious."

"You just got back like an hour ago. Stay here." Joanna begged, making a soft mewling in Logan's ear, pressing soft kisses to his throat. "Please?"

"Mm...we'll cuddle some other time, darlin'. I got stuff I gotta do today." Logan coaxed her arms back to her sides. "I promise -after seven o'clock tonight, I am all yours."

"Logan, you need sleep...you just got back...come on -you've got nothing to do today that can't wait until later this morning...come on...another hour? For me?" Joanna clasped his hand.

"Sorry darlin'." He shook his head. "I'll try and catch a little shut-eye later this afternoon though, okay?"

She sighed, "Okay...I wish you wouldn't have driven straight though. You could have stopped over someplace last night."

"It's okay...I'm a big boy. I know what I'm doin'." He pressed another kiss to her lips. "Seven tonight...we'll go out. I think it's time we start thinking about our wedding, hm?"

"Really?" Joanna smiled.

"Yea." Logan nodded with a soft smile. "Really."

"So, obviously Rogue would be my maid of honor." Joanna was scribbling notes in a notebook, sitting in Logan's lap in the rec room, while everyone else was out doing their own thing. "And I would want Jubilee, Ororo, and Tori as bridesmaids."

"Uh-huh." Logan nodded.

"Whose your best man?" Joanna asked, raising her eyebrow and turning to look at him.

"I don't know." Logan wrinkled his brow. "Charles if he wants it."

"Okay." Joanna nodded, "I like it. It would be really nice for him to be part of it." She turned to press a kiss to Logan's lips. "If it wasn't for Xavier's School...we probably wouldn't have ever met, would we?"

"Probably not." Logan shook his head. "Thank god for men like the Professor."

"Amen to that brutha Logan." Joanna grinned, kissing him again, before setting back to work. "Okay, besides the Professor, you need three groomsmen."

"Well, I think Remy, and Kurt...how about Kevin?"

"Canada-Kevin? Drunk-every-Saturday-night Kevin?"

"Hey, I like Kevin."

"Well, I like Kevin too!" Joanna smiled, shaking her head. "Sure. We'll call him tomorrow."

"Okay...so now that it's all decided, what's next?"

"Well, we should probably decide when... Which season?"

"How about the summer?"

"Okay. So, June, July, or August?"

"Well...July always gets so busy around here...August is always a scorcher... So how about June?"

"Day of the week?" Joanna raised her eyebrow.

"Are you going to put your two cents in about this?"

"No..." She shook her head. "I like what you're saying."

"Okay...how about a Saturday?"

"Okay." Joanna pulled out a calendar from behind her notebook, flipping to June. "How about...June fourteenth?"

"Sounds perfect." Logan smiled, pressing a kiss to her lips.

"Do you know what this means." Joanna asked, turning to put her arms around his shoulders.

"Hmm?" Logan raised an eyebrow.

"We've actually decided something solid...we have a wedding day." She grinned.

"So we do." He nodded. "You gonna go run and tell the girls?"

"No." Joanna shook her head. "I'll tell them in the morning."

Logan pressed another kiss to her lips, and nodded, "Okay. What's next on the list?"

Four days later, Joanna began to shop for dresses with Rogue. She made several appointments with bridal shops around the Bayville area, and New York.

"I don't care what you put me in, sugar, so long as it ain't pink." Rogue was flipping through the dress racks at _Sarah's_, a hometown sort of bridal shop.

"Actually, I was thinking of green. You like green." Joanna lounged on a couch, a large dress book on her lap. "Green for you, and red for the others."

Rogue shrugged, "Are you even sure you know what you want?"

"All I know, Rogue, is that I don't want m mother involved. She's one of those mothers who would just take over and run the whole show."

"Got it. Your mom is _not_ to know."

"At least not until all of my arrangements are made...maybe I can con her into just showing up, shoving her into a dress, and then chaining her to a chair, maybe a gag."

"Well, it would certainly be fun for Logan." R ogue mused, "I think he might actually take some sick pleasure in chaining up your mother."

"Oh, shut up! That is so -...well, no. I can't lie. He probably would enjoy himself." Joanna smiled.

Rogue sighed and plopped loudly down onto the couch, "So...what are we looking for?"

"My dress, your dress, and dresses for Ororo, Tori, and Jubilee." Joanna ticked the names from her fingers. "And my Mom."

Rogue picked up a magazine from the table, "Are you going traditional white?"

Joanna sighed, "I don't want to...I've never really liked white...maybe white with some kind of colored embroidery...no lace! I'd want a darker color."

"Sounds very you." Rogue nodded.

"And I want a wreath instead of a veil."

"Uh huh." Rogue wasn't paying attention to what Joanna was saying, flipping through the pages boredly.

"Rogue...are you okay?"

She sighed, "I'm sorry. I just...I'm not into this girl-wedding stuff."

"I'm sorry. Maybe I should just call my Mom?" Joanna mused.

"Jo, you know I want to help! It just seems so hard for me to relate to this."

"Why? You don't think you'll ever get married? Rogue, you and Remy have been dating since senior year!"

"Yea, but, I can never do anything with him. It's hard, Jo. I love him. I want nothing more then to just be wit him, but if I ever hurt him? How would I live with myself?"

"Oh, Rogue..." Joanna moved closer to her best friends, putting her arms around her. "You make me feel so helpless."

"You can't save everyone, Jo." Rogue sighed, "I'll deal -so, a white dress with dark embroidery, huh? What's not going to clash with the bridesmaids dresses, is it?"

"What'er you reading?" Logan asked when he slid into bed later that night.

"A bridal magazine." Joanna shrugged.

"Learn anything new?"

"...If I decide to break off the engagement, our annoucements have to say that it was mutual, even if it wasn't."

"Oh. Good to know." Logan nodded.

Jo yawned, tossing the magazine aside and shrugging down into bed after turning off the light.

"Logan?"

"Hm?" Logan asked, putting an arm over her waist.

"Do you ever think about our future?"

Logan smiled, pressing a kiss against the back of her neck, "Like what?"

"Like...our jobs, kids, where we'll live."

Logan shrugged, "I don't know. I guess I always thought we'd stay here for a few more years then move up north, or maybe get a place near your parents. If we had kids, maybe move someplace suburban, where it's less crowded."

"We should go live on a tropical island." Joanna smiled, holding one of his hands against her stomach. "Just you, me, and the natives."

"Hmm...there'd have to be snow though. I like snow."

Joanna scoffed, "Ugh, cold!"

"When it's cold, I can hold you all night...It's to uncomfortable when it's hot."

"We'd have air conditioning." Jo grinned.

"Sorry darlin', I'm nixing the tropical island...maybe for our honeymoon."

Jo sighed, "That's okay. I'm more of a city girl anyway."

"What do you think about? When you consider our future?"

Joanna shrugged, "Staying on here, maybe getting a house in town, or nearby. Having a kid or two."

"You really want to stay in Bayville?"

"The happiest times of my life were right here in Bayville. It's a good town, nice people, good atmosphere. Don't you like it?"

"Yea, I guess it's okay." Logan shrugged. "The job is good, but it seems like we aren't getting enough space for _us_."

"That's what Canada is for, Logan."

"Hmm...I mean, maybe you should think about branching out...I've been all around the world. I could settle anywhere and be happy, but you've only seen half of it so far." He pressed another kiss against her neck. "It's up to you, darlin'... Right now, we should just get to sleep."

The room was quiet for a few moments.

"Logan?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

Logan smiled against her neck, "I love you too."

"Please tell me we get to wear this!" Jubilee picked up a clipping from a magazine, giving it a scrutinizing eye.

"I thought about it, but it's kind of expensive." Joanna glanced up.

"Oh...well, keep it in mind. It's beautiful." Jubilee placed it back and sat down on the couch beside her. "Have you made any of your other plans?"

"Yep. Kurt agreed to play minister for us, the ceremony is in the back, and the reception will be in front."

"Flowers?"

"Red and white rose arrangements." Joanna pulled a book from within the mountainous piles. "A spray bouquet for me, and the bridesmaids, yours will be slightly smaller." She flipped through the book to show the younger girl a picture of what she was talking about.

"Pretty." Jubilee nodded. "You seem to be becoming a bit overwhelmed..."

"Well...a little bit. Rogue is helping a little, and I haven't told my mother yet..."

"Well, If you need anything, Jo, just ask. We'll all be more than happy to help you out." Jubilee smiled, touching her and. "Just ask."

"We should get out here." Logan yawned, biting at the back of Joanna's neck while the two lounged in bed on an early Wednesday morning. "Go on a vacation..."

Joanna smiled, "Did you have something in mind?"

"Just a couple of days away... all the work is almost done at the manor. It's completely been renovated. It looks fantastic. I want you to see it."

"Hmm...Do we really want to chance that kind of travel..." Joanna reached back on tugged on the back of one of her wings. "I don't know if my image inducer can handle that kind of use. It's already been getting a work out for all of the wedding stuff Rogue and I have been doing in town lately."

Logan made a small noise of agreement, running his fingers over the smooth black feathers, "I guess you're right...but I'm sure it could handle it."

"I just hope all of this is gone by the June."

"It will be." Logan assured her. "And if it's not...well, you'll still be the most gorgeous bride. I love your wings." He pressed a kiss to the tip of one, his hand reaching under the covers to grab her tail, "_This_ on the other hand, I could do without." The tail twisted, wrenching out of his hand.

"It has a total mind of it's own, Logan. I can't help it." Joanna smiled a gainst the pillow, before stretching her arms.

Logan snorted, and pressed a kiss to her lips, "I still say we should get out of here for a week or two. Recoup from all of the activity."

Joanna raised an eyebrow, "In place of another?"

"Maybe." Logan grinned, "You know me so well."

"We'll have to see what the rest of the week brings us." Joanna shrugged just as Rogue knocked briefly on the door before opening it.

"Hey, there's a situation in Chicago the Professor wants us to check out. -Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt y'all's _private time_." Rogue shielded her eyes.

"We'll be right there." Joanna assured her, and shook her head as Rogue closed the door. "Come on, Logan, looks like it's time to save the world again -or at least Chicago."


End file.
